


Camp Elysian

by Vchanny



Category: Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon | Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, Friendship, Gen, Lifeguard, Male Friendship, Male-Female Friendship, Shenanigans, Summer, Summer Camp, charlie is chaotic evil
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-04
Updated: 2020-11-04
Packaged: 2021-03-09 05:27:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 13
Words: 29,434
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27389449
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vchanny/pseuds/Vchanny
Summary: It’s summer time, and like years past, Morgan is off to summer camp. This year, she’s got to keep on her toes to stop her cousin, Serena, from breaking the rules and getting them both sent home, all while keeping her nosy nemesis, Kayden, unaware. Shenanigans!
Relationships: Aino Minako/Kunzite, Chiba Mamoru/Tsukino Usagi
Comments: 144
Kudos: 18
Collections: Senshi & Shitennou Mini Bang 2020





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Another year has passed, and here were are again. It's time for my entry for the Senshi & Shitennou Mini Bang 2020! I was so blessed to get paired with my awesome artist, FlourishFox (who you should go find on Tumblr right now under that name, and go love all her stuff. I mean it.), and my fantastic beta, Kanadka (who was so generous with her time <3).
> 
> **A significant part of this artwork is very heavily influenced by a specific artwork, created by Fuu, aka Messysketchpad (https://twitter.com/messysketchpad?s=21), which can be found here:**
> 
> **Twitter: https://twitter.com/messysketchpad/status/948148385986445314?s=21**
> 
> **Tumblr: https://messysketchpad.tumblr.com/post/169221476964/i-found-myself-dreaming-in-silver-and-gold-i-was**
> 
> The biggest of shoutouts to the MODS. They managed to deliver in a year... well, it's been a year. You guys are amazing. We <3 you.
> 
> The theme this year was "red," which is broad. And I took a very broad interpretation of it. Have fun finding all the red references.
> 
> So, sit back, and get ready to teleport to the year 2006. Where smart phones were not yet a common thing, and unlimited texting was even more uncommon. You can hear your parents yelling at you already, can't you? Mm. Good times.

For once in her life, Morgan was up before the alarm from her phone started blaring “ _Ooooh, barracuda!_ ” She silenced it with a bit more pep in her step than usual. Today was her ticket to summertime freedom. Freedom from her harpy of a mother, under whom she had suffered a whole week and a half now since the school term had ended. In that week and a half, her mother had already pestered her about which college she thought she’d attend and how she should be spending her free time preparing for college entrance exams no less than a dozen times. Her father was away on business again, which left her to take the brunt of the housewife’s nagging. Honestly, she couldn’t blame him for being gone again. Her mother was a special kind of pleasant to be around.   
  
Her mom had once been on the path to a successful career, but quit to raise Morgan. And while it was never said out loud, Morgan knew her mother blamed her for ruining her life. Being the only child also meant Morgan shouldered all the weight of her mother’s high expectations for how her life should turn out. Morgan couldn’t leave soon enough.   
  
In approximately two hours, her chariot would arrive, and she’d blow this popsicle stand and be on her way to her summer sanctuary: Camp Elysian. Her parents had sent her there every summer since she could remember. It was a relatively expensive camp, with more activities than your run of the mill summer experience. Her mom never let her forget how much it cost to let her go spend the summers with her cousin, Serena. So when the opportunity arose to go from mere camper to tuition-reduced volunteer camp counselor a few years back, Morgan jumped on the opportunity. If not for the additional freedom and privileges, definitely to get her mom to stop guilting her on the regular.   
  
She’d been a peer counselor a few years now, and last year she’d added her lifeguard certification to her repertoire. Her older cousin had roped both her and his younger sister into the program the year before that. Some of their lifeguards had moved on from the camp, and they needed bodies, but Morgan liked to think he was looking out for them. Being a lifeguard made Morgan feel like she’d gone up a few rungs of the hierarchy ladder. So much better than just being a glorified babysitter or dishwasher.   
  
Once she’d done a thorough once-over in the mirror, and checked her bag for the tenth time, Morgan glanced over at her clock. 9:15 

She still had forty-five minutes to go. Stomach growling, she decided to go face her mother one more time and grab something to eat. As she grabbed her duffle to go drop it by the front door, something rubbed up against her ankle. Morgan smiled and bent over to scratch the chin of her fluffy white cat, who responded with a purr and quiet meow.   
  
“Oh, Arty, I know. I’m going to miss you, too. You’ll be fine. I’ll be back before you know it. Take all the naps you want on my bed. And hey, at least she likes you.” With a bitter smile, she stroked the feline a few times before heading down the hall into the main area of their quaint 1970s three-bedroom ranch.

She was greeted by her mother in the eat-in kitchen, sipping on a cup of coffee, face buried in her laptop, a pile of paper and envelopes strewn on the counter next to her. “Finally getting a move on? Your cousins will be here soon.” Her tone wasn’t quite accusatory, but it wasn’t pleasant, either.   
  
“I know,” Morgan responded cheerfully, yet strained, as she grabbed a random box of sugary cereal from the cabinet. “I just needed to check my bag a few more times. I don’t want to bother you because I forgot something.”   
  
“I’m sure Serena would share if you forgot something. You two could be twins.”   
  
Morgan genuinely smiled, thinking of her dear cousin. Serena was her most favorite person in the entire world. Cereal in hand, she moved to the table behind her mother and pulled out her phone.   
  
A few short moments passed before her mother let out an exasperated sigh. “Really, Morgan? We have like 30 minutes before you’re gone for two months. You have to play on your phone?”   
  
Morgan bit the inside of her cheek to stop herself from saying anything back, exhaled through her nose, and reminded herself that very soon, she’d be free of this interrogation.   
  
“I don’t think that having a conversation with your mother is too hard of an ask, Morgan. I’m the only mother you’ve got, and it’d be nice if we could have a relationship.”   
  
“Mom,” she began to plead.   
  
“But, instead, you avoid me every chance you get.”   
  
“Mo-om.”

“You know, one of these days, I’m not going to be around, and you’re going to wish we’d spent more time together. My mom and I were so close. I don’t understand what went wrong with us. I do everything for you, and you can’t even spend an afternoon with me. Am I so horrible?”

Just when this guilt trip was about to reach its crescendo, the sweet sound of a car horn reached Morgan’s ears. Her mother sighed angrily and tossed a stack of folded up papers onto the table in front of her. “Don’t forget these,” she ordered before returning to her makeshift office space on the counter.  
  
Morgan glared at the admission forms, gathered them up, along with her bag, and hastily made her way out the door, down the front steps, and across the lawn. A blonde girl with a cheery smile greeted her while hanging out the side of the car.   
  
“Momo!”   
  
Morgan tossed her duffle at her doppleganger and quickly dumped the papers in the trash can by the curb, before pushing the other girl in and joining her in the backseat.   
  
“Someone’s sure ready to get out of here,” the driver, her cousin Jayden, teased as she slammed the door to his cherry red Toyota Corolla. Jayden was two years older than them, but the three were thick as thieves growing up. There wasn’t a weekend or summer’s day they weren’t running around the neighborhood together getting in and out of trouble. They had moved away when the girls were both around 8, but that’s when their parents had decided to send them to camp each summer so they could still see each other.   
  
“Yeah, well, you guys don’t live with the spawn of Satan, so, yeah. Drive.” 


	2. Chapter 2

The two and a half hour drive was over before the three of them knew it. The first two were all highway, followed by a thirty minute drive deep into the woods. A drive Morgan knew would prevent any sudden drop-ins from her mother. Even an enraged “I found your college applications in the trash again” mother.

As they passed under the large, aging wooden welcome sign, the girls raced to repack the stuff they had gotten out during the drive. The sound of the gravel crackling under the slowed tires felt like coming home, and Morgan took in a deep breath as she leaned out the now opened window. They passed the pool, classrooms, main office, and parked in the small employee parking lot near the back of the main property. Deciding to unload after orientation and bunk assignments, they made their way down the shady path to the auditorium.

They filed in and Jayden broke rank to sit with his peers, a handful of college students near the front. Serena nudged Morgan’s arm when she spotted some of their fellow junior counselors she’d recognized off to the left. However, there wasn’t much time for hellos. As soon as they reached their seats, they were reminded to take them by one of the camp employees’ voices booming over the microphone. It was the same spiel they went over every year. Welcome back, expectations, reminders of rules, the introducing of new faces.  _ Boring _ . Morgan found herself not paying much attention, instead scanning the room to see who was there and who wasn’t this summer. She couldn’t wait for this orientation to be over with, unpack, and get ready for the first wave of campers to arrive bright and early Monday morning. They still needed to get sorted into their groups, so everyone knew who their senior peer counselor was, the next person in their chain of command, so to speak. Kathy had been hers since she started the lifeguard program, and Morgan expected no change this year.   
  
Her phone vibrated, derailing her from her thought train, and further distracting her from what was going on up on stage.  _ Thank God I remembered to put you on silent _ , she thought as she pulled it from her pocket and flipped it open.

It was a grainy picture of the papers she threw in the trash, followed by “call me” in all caps. “Oops…” she mumbled to herself before Serena nudged her to pay attention again.

“We’re group two,” she leaned in and whispered.   
  
“Thanks,” she said, biting her lip, feeling a little embarrassed that even Serena was paying better attention for once, and tucked her phone away.

“And now,” the boring voice continued, “A special announcement. Since Kathy has left us -”

_ Wait. _ Morgan’s ears perked up.

“- our new Head Senior Peer Counselor taking her place will be none other than Kayden Anderson.”

Whistles and claps erupted from the front row where all the college kids sat. Morgan sneered as the silver-haired (yes, silver, the weirdo), early 20-something stood and did a quick wave to the room. She stuck her tongue out as he looked their way. “Don’t clap for that douche.”

“Aw, he’s not that bad,” Serena replied in that all too cheerful tone. Serena loved everyone. Even stupid jerks like Kayden.

“Says you.” Morgan knew the real Kayden, and he did not deserve Serena’s optimism or praise.

With that, the orientation was over, and everyone picked up their paper packets, containing their schedules, bunk assignments and the like. Morgan flipped through hers as they walked to gather their things from Jayden’s car. She couldn’t believe she got assigned under that idiot. This was supposed to be an awesome summer before her senior year. It was supposed to be summertime fun time, not lame. Kathy was like a fun big sister. Kayden… well, he was the absolute opposite of fun. In fact, she wasn’t sure he knew how to have it.

Her internal grumbling lasted all the way to the bunk house. There were six total cabins, two bigger and nicer cabins reserved for the seniors. This year, their bunk housed Serena, herself, a quiet girl she recognized from the infirmary, a tall girl that she knew worked at the stables, Molly, who was a girl Serena went to school with, and Raelynn, or Rae for short. Rae had been at camp for as long as Morgan could remember. Often, they found themselves on separate teams in competition with one another. Rae had been the only person to ever best Morgan at volleyball, and Morgan respected not only that, but also the fact that Rae never gloated about it. They’d been bunked together last year and forged a friendship.

“I get top bunk!” Serena declared as she sprung onto the top empty bunk.

“What’s up, Pyro?” Morgan said casually as she dropped her duffle by the raven-haired girl’s feet, trying to get her attention. She didn’t even flinch. Morgan knew she wouldn’t, but she always tried.

“I see you two are fashionably late again, as you like to call it,” said Rae.

Morgan grinned and plopped down on her bunk, swatting one of Serena’s insanely long pig tails out of her face.

Meanwhile, Serena sat up and looked down into the room, seeing who she missed as she'd raced to her prized top bunk. She beamed looking across the bunks to find Molly, who she’d known since kindergarten, sitting across from her. “Hey, Molls! How’re you?”

Morgan looked over to the last of the three bunks. The quiet girl was up top, smiling as Serena turned her attention from Molly to her and started chatting. On the bottom, was the pretty girl from the stables. “Hey,” she greeted. “I’m Morgan. I don’t think we’ve met.”

“Yeah, I’ve seen you around, though. I’m Madelyn. My friends call me Maddie.”

“Cool. Well, Maddie, this cool drink of water is Rae.” Morgan caught Rae rolling her eyes. “Above me chatting everyone’s ear off is Serena. She’s my cousin, not my sister like everyone asks. Molly is above you.”

“And Amy is over Rae!” Serena added cheerfully. Introductions complete, the group of girls chattered until dinner and then again until lights out.

-.-.-.-.-.-

Saturday was filled with paperwork, yearly training, safety protocols, CPR recertifications and other boring things. It was also very hot. Morgan and Serena found themselves done for the day by 3:00. No one had remembered to leave the windows open, and their bunk room felt like an oven when they returned that afternoon.

“Gah, I can’t tell if it’s hotter in here or outside!” Serena wailed.

Morgan opened the final window and sat down straight in front of the oscillating fan. “I hope it’s not this bad all summer,” she lamented. It would be fitting, though. Hot as Hell, and it would feel like Hell working under the Camp Gargoyle all summer.

Serena pushed her out of the way, claiming she should share, but Morgan shoved her back, claiming she did all the work opening the stuck windows and deserved it first.

As they were about to rock-paper-scissors it, Morgan heard someone outside talking as they walked by, and she jumped up enthusiastically. “I have an idea!” Grabbing the other girl’s wrist with her sweaty palm, Morgan yanked her to her feet, and led them outside the oppressively hot cabin, up the path to where the voice had disappeared to.

Inside his cabin, they found Jayden quietly sipping his soda, flipping through a GamePro magazine, oblivious to the door slowly creeping open, their two blonde heads appearing through the gap.

“Hey, Jayden! Just who we were looking for!”

His face scrunched up, annoyed at the sudden interruption. “Why are you two in here? Go back to your own cabin.”

Serena ignored him and sprawled out on the laminate flooring, mumbling, “Can’t. I’ll die.”

He shook his head, tossing the magazine down onto the table. “So dramatic.”

Morgan helped herself to the cold water from the fridge in the small eat-in kitchen. “Your cabin has  _ air _ ,” she said matter-of-factly.

A smug look overcame his face, and then he chuckled. “Ah. Yes. The perks of my position. You’re  _ only  _ juniors _.  _ Stick around. Your day will come,” he finished as he gestured to the most definitely bigger cabin space.

Morgan twisted the cap back on and sat across from him on the set of mismatched thrift store sofas that had probably been here since the place opened. They smelled like they belonged in her Nana’s basement. “Well, I don’t know about Sere here, but I don’t have plans on sticking around here any longer than I  _ have _ to. So, I will never know the pleasure of sleeping in such a  _ luxurious _ space,” she hit back, never missing the chance to engage in banter. “After this school year, I’m gone. I have bigger aspirations than a paid summer camp position.” Morgan would also be 18 in a few months, not that anyone would forget as much as she talked about it, and no longer legally a minor and stuck under the thumb of her mother.

“You’ll have to fill those applications out first,” Serena managed to tease.

Morgan blew a raspberry. “Who says I’m wasting my time with college?” She had big plans to move out west and make it big after graduation, even if no one took them seriously.  _ ‘Really? Hollywood, Momo?’ _ Adults in Morgan’s life had often called her fickle and irresponsible, an unmotivated dreamer, indecisive, just to name a few. The truth was, she knew what she wanted to do, it was just that no one would listen.

“Not this again,” Jayden said disappointingly. “I don’t know if I have the energy to argue with you about this again right now.” Jayden was a fierce proponent for secondary education. He never failed to bring it up whenever Morgan mentioned her plans, often leading to tense conversations and, more often than not, Morgan storming out.

The two cousins glared at each other, but were interrupted by one of the bedroom doors closing. “Why do you have girls in the cabin?” the silky baritone asked, annoyed.

Morgan shifted her gaze to the direction of the voice, and immediately scowled. “Oh, look. The new Head Boy. Ten points to Gryffindor!” Kayden didn’t flinch.  _ Damn. _

“Sorry,” Jayden added hurriedly. “It’s just my sister and our cousin.”

“I know who they are. Do you two need something? Was there something wrong with the re-cert?” He looked away now, to the other side of the room. 

Serena finally had the decency to pull herself off the floor, and was dusting her clothes off as his eyes met hers. “No, everything went fine. We were done early, actually. Super smooth.”

Morgan continued to stare at him defiantly, waiting for him to start listing off whatever rules they were violating. She imagined he was compiling specific articles from the handbook, readying to fire them off and look impressive.  _ Section 3, paragraph 1, no having fun! _

“I see,” he said after a moment of locking stares with Morgan.

Morgan didn’t get a chance to poke the bear again, a favorite pastime of hers. “Hey, don’t we have that thing?” Jayden asked abruptly. Morgan couldn’t tell if he genuinely forgot and suddenly remembered, or if he was just trying to defuse the situation, since Jayden knew how she felt about Kayden. Kayden, in return, gave him a look that said ‘why did you think I came out here for?’. “Right, right. Okay, well you guys gotta leave anyway. We have  _ senior _ stuff to do.”

“But the A/C!” Serena whined in defeat.

Jayden shrugged as he jumped up from the couch. “Not my problem. Can’t be in here without, suuu-peeeeer-viiiis-ioooon.” He dragged that last word out as he gave Serena his most annoying older brother grin and tried to mess up her hair.

“Hey!” she swatted his hand away and grabbed Morgan’s hand. “Let’s go. We’ll cool off somewhere else.”

“Pool’s off-limits, still,” Kayden called out as they left.

Morgan was unable to fight the urge to respond, but before she could turn around and give that insufferable jerk a piece of her mind, Serena tugged her hand harder, dragging her out of earshot.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaah! Guys! After I posted, I commissioned the lovely versailles-fairytale over on Tumblr to draw a scene from this chapter, and I am so happy! It's included here, now, for everyone's viewing pleasure. Please go drop some love on her Tumblr. :)

Sunday was the last day before the campers arrived. They were scheduled to break up into their groups and do some team exercises, then meet up in the afternoon and get to know all the other peer counselors and staff, officially starting the season with the opening campfire. The owner of the camp wanted all his “kids” to feel like a family, and he regularly got them all together to try and foster that feeling. The campfire was like a big party. There was food, music and singing. S’mores! Everyone had such a great time. It was one of Morgan’s favorite parts of the season.

She was looking forward to the campfire that evening, but not so much a morning trying to get along with Kayden. Why did Kathy have to leave? On her last summer here, at that! Kathy let the lifeguards just hang out in her cabin and chill. She was sure Frownie McFrown Face would have some stupid trust building exercise or something dumb planned. Rope course. It’s probably the rope course, she thought.

The blonde pair said their goodbyes to the remaining bunkmates, slipped on their flip-flops and made their way down to the pool. The chlorinated air hit her nostrils as they approached, and Morgan let out an appreciative sigh. Something about a pool just made her so happy. It was everything fun and summertime. No one could be unhappy at a pool.

When they walked through the chain-link gate, they spotted the rest of the lifeguards sitting on the benches near the lockers. There were eight of them total, plus a few seniors and one actual adult employee, who’d already taken off after unlocking the gates. The group took turns keeping the pool safe, and maintaining watch down at the lake when activities were scheduled. Admittedly, Morgan spent more time up here. She didn’t really care for swimming in the lake, or dealing with the dumb kids not listening to instructions when it came to the big inflatables they had. There had been an unfortunate incident a few years back, and being down there still bothered her.

They all mingled, introducing themselves to those they didn’t know, and catching up with the ones they did. One of them happened to glance at the clock on the wall, and the discussions shifted to whether they were all there at the wrong time.

“No, I’m sure it said 10:00.”

“Maybe it was a typo?”

“Free-day?” followed by laughter.

“Jay would know,” Serena uttered. “Hey, where is he, anyway?”

As if on cue, a sharp whistle erupted from across the pool. Jayden entered, and was flanked on his right by a clipboard-wielding Kayden. Both were in their Red Cross red board shorts and a crisp white t-shirt. Jayden was also sporting the red visor, but Kayden just had on a pair of dark aviators, which Morgan thought made him look like he was trying too hard.

Morgan rolled her eyes at the sight as the pair made their way to the group. 

  
[ ](http://drive.google.com/uc?export=view&id=1U9liBBD3cjYm-BzVkcSoGfCMHFyrSFEG)

Kayden checked his watch. “Twenty minutes in, and no one had the initiative to start pool maintenance? I see no one is in their uniform, either.” He started writing on his clipboard.

“Oh. My. God.” Morgan mouthed to Serena, who was looking utterly perplexed. This was way worse than the rope course. And she stood corrected, someone could be unhappy at a pool. Kayden. Of course Kayden could turn the best place in the world into something unfun.    
  
The morning went painfully slow, and by the time they were released for the afternoon, all Morgan wanted to do was take a long nap. Instead, she was met by her far more chipper bunkmates, who all wanted to take their time getting ready for the bonfire later, including Serena, who should have been as exhausted as she was. Morgan decided to pay that last fact no mind and join in with the group, seeing who managed to pack what extras in their summer bags.

Molly had metal bangles and extra earrings to share.   


Maddie had brought an eyeshadow palette she agreed to pass around, to which Amy supplied q-tips, citing why sharing was bad and how makeup brushes were full of bacteria.   
  
Rae and Serena had a few tops they were willing to share. Morgan grabbed a cute red one, leaving the others to bicker over the rest. Maddie thanked them for offering to share, but cited “reasons” for not taking them up on the offer, while gesturing at her larger boobs.

Morgan offered to help with hair. “Miss Congeniality” played in the background as the group excitedly took their time getting ready. Morgan would be spending most of her summer bare-faced, clad in her swimsuit or shorts and a camp t-shirt, so getting dolled up felt like a bit of a special occasion. They wouldn’t do this again until nearly the end of the season when they planned and threw the end of camp dance.   
  
When they were all ready, the group of girls piled out of the old bunk house and made their way to the campfire site nestled in an open field near the treeline behind the auditorium. They passed some of the actual staff and other counselors on their way, who must’ve been setting things up, splitting their group to make room on the walkway. Mr. Anderson, the owner of the camp, greeted them when they arrived. He gave a warm hug to those who offered him one, which ended up being Morgan and Serena, and shared a quick story about getting the two confused with each other when they were younger to the others, eliciting a chuckle or two. Mr. Anderson was such a warm, kind, funny old man. He really did make everyone feel at home here. 

Silver caught her eye, and she glanced over, only to see her nemesis, Kayden, setting up coolers by a portable grill, with his clipboard nearby, of course. 

How the two could possibly be related was beyond her.

Sweet Mr. Anderson finished his stories and welcomed the girls to relax and have fun, then excused himself. The group split respectively, Molly and Serena heading over to get a snack, Madelyn and Amy went to see if anyone needed help setting anything up, and that left Rae and Morgan surveying the landscape.   
  
“Looks like the girls are all hovering around the food,” said Rae.

“And all the boys are hanging around the horseshoes and cornhole boards. Wanna show them up?” Morgan challenged, eyebrows raised. “I’ll play the dumb blonde, to make them feel like they’ve got a chance. What do you say?”

Rae nodded and the two bounded in that direction, determined to bruise some egos.

After winning more than she’d lost, Morgan left to go get herself and Rae a Gatorade. Serena was at the table set up with drinks when she got there, talking to someone Morgan had never seen before. He was tall, college-aged, and had a thick head of ebony hair.

“Lifeguard, huh? Well, anyone rescued by you is extra lucky,” Morgan overheard the man say, and watched as her cousin’s cheeks flushed.

Morgan approached and cleared her throat. The two sheepishly looked her way as she put two fingers in the air. “Two blue Gatorades, please?”

The man nodded and grabbed two plastic bottles from the coolers on his side of the table.

“Thanks!” Morgan said as she looped her arm through Serena’s and dragged her off with her, leaving the other blonde trying to wave goodbye and mouth the word “sorry” as she was led away.

“Who was  _ that _ ?” Morgan asked, trying to sound as casual as possible.

“Who? Darien?”

“He has a  _ name _ !” she teased. 

Serena shoved her cousin. “Yes. He does.”

“Who is he, though? I’ve never seen him here before. And we’ve been coming here a long time.”

“Oh. Well, he said he goes to school with Mr. Anderson’s grandson, and that’s who talked him into taking the summer job here. He’s regular staff, though. I met him in the office earlier. He’s super nice.”

_ Kayden. _ Morgan tried to let the venom fade before she spoke. “Well, don’t forget page six of the handbook. ‘No dating.’ Stay out of trouble, okay?”

Serena stared at her in disbelief, jaw slack for a moment before laughing. “Who’s the rule jockey now? You sound like Kayden!”

Morgan gasped. How  _ dare _ she. “Take that BACK!”

Serena laughed some more and took off running. “Never!”


	4. Chapter 4

The bonfire had been a success, no doubt due to his immaculate planning and execution. Kayden knew how much the event meant to his grandfather, and knowing he was retiring soon, he wanted to make sure to preserve the memories of camp for him.

It was mid-week now, though, which meant campers were here, and camp was in full swing. The campfire needed to move to the back of his mind so he could focus on the new tasks.

Kayden didn’t hate his summer job. He was quite good at it actually. Managing other people and solving problems were two of his strong suits. His promotion to head peer counselor was unsuspected, yet welcomed. He’d been in charge of many of these duties, but never held the title before. It was nice to feel like he had full respect. It was also good for morale that it wasn’t simply handed to him just due to his family ties. He earned it.

That wasn’t to say he was without his own ambitions and goals, but loyalty to family and ties to the camp, which he’d attended since he was of age, kept him here. In a perfect world, maybe he’d be spending his summers interning at some prestigious company, getting some real world skills and something a little more impressive to add to future resumes. He was needed here, however. Being the only grandchild, and his father still busy with his own career, Kayden was the only family member left to help out, and no prospective career opportunity would be valuable enough to him to have him let his family down. If Kayden was anything it was loyal to a fault.   
  
After breakfast and cleanup, which they all pitched in with, because no one was above dish duty, he began his rounds. Everything was checking out and running smoothly until he reached the common area outside the auditorium. There was a small crowd gathering near one of the shaded picnic tables, including some of his counselors that had things they should be doing or getting ready for.

Resisting the urge to stride over there and break things up, he watched as the teen in the center continued to show off a fancy looking phone to the other teens surrounding him.

Zack, a friend of Kayden’s, appeared nearly out of thin air next to him, something he did regularly which no longer creeped Kayden out, and followed the taller man’s gaze to the crowd. “Is that the iPhone? I didn’t think those were out yet.”

Kayden glanced over after realizing Zack was there, and replied in his usual even, low tone. “I don’t know what that is.”

Zack gave him a good-natured slap to the back. “I didn’t expect you to, caveman. They call it a smartphone.”

“What makes it smart?”

“Things you won’t care about.”

Kayden appreciated that Zack knew him well enough to not bother elaborating. “Excuse me for not fanboying over the latest gadgets.”

Zack shrugged, not fazed.

“I guess the phone explains the crowd.” Kayden pointed to the kid with the phone and began flipping through papers on his clipboard. “Who is that anyway?”

“Oh? He’s one of our permanent summer residents.”

“He wasn’t at orientation.”

Zack chuckled. “Ah, that’s because he is one of our affluent guests, not one of your employees. I guess this is cheaper than boarding school, or a live-in-nanny.”

Jayden’s voice joined the conversations from behind, as he placed a hand of each of their shoulders. “Maybe they’re just afraid he’d bang a nanny. Ugh!”

Kayden pulled his elbow back from Jayden’s side, hitting him not only for the comment but for sneaking up on them, while simultaneously glaring at the nameless rich kid. It was uncommon for a teenager his age to be here and not be working. There were few activities for a person his age, which meant a lot of time for him to wander and cause trouble. Kayden was instantly suspicious.

-.-.-.-.-.-

The first full week of camp was almost over. It didn’t mean any days off or less work, but it was nice to say they’d made it without too many hiccups.

Mid-week, Morgan had noticed her dear cousin a little more spaced out than usual, though Serena had cited that she was just tired, having not gotten used to the bunks or lack of air conditioning yet. That, Morgan could buy into. Serena was definitely the type to need a full night’s rest. She was also distracted during conversations, though, and Morgan caught her eyes wandering when they walked past the main offices on more than one occasion.

To say Morgan was suspicious was a bit of an understatement. Serena had always shared her problems and fears and insecurities with Morgan, nothing was too big or too small to talk about. They knew everything about each other. This silence and obvious mind wandering had her worried.

“Serena, would you switch shifts on Friday with me? I don’t want to work the lake shift. I told Kayden this, but he doesn’t care.”

Serena continued to stare off.

Morgan loudly set her hands down on the picnic table. “Ser-eeena?”

Nothing.

Morgan thought maybe some key words would jolt her. “John Mayer is making a surprise appearance on Saturday right here.”

Nothing.

“I got us tickets to see  _ Beyonce _ .”

Nada.

“There’s free ice cream in the cafeteria. All you can eat.”

“Hmm?” Serena didn’t avert her gaze, but she had at least heard her. Morgan counted that as a small win. Leave it to ice cream to be the winning phrase. “What was that?”

“What’s wrong with you, Space Case?”

Serena sheepishly turned around. “Nothing. I’m sorry. What was that about ice cream?”

“Seeeeeeere. I want you to take my lake shift! I’ll work two of your normal shifts. Any day you want.”

Normally, Serena might try to bargain for more, but instead, she seemed to think for just a moment and then nodded resolutely. “Works for me. Sure. Take Monday.”

“Works for you? You have plans or something?” she joked suggestively.

Serena laughed. “No. No. But hey, I gotta run!”

“To wheeeere?” but Serena did not hear her, or at least, pretended not to.

After some quick interrogations lead to nothing, Morgan devised Operation Follow the White Hare. She  _ would _ figure out what was going on.

-.-.-.-.-.-

  
The disadvantage of the bottom bunk was you could always feel the other person get in and out of bed. There were countless advantages that outweighed it, but it was bothersome. Although, Morgan thought, for her purposes, even that disadvantage had turned into something useful.

Suspicions high, she had been noticing more when Serena had disturbed her at night getting up to go to the bathroom. Rather than roll over, she’d been noting the time, and waiting for the other girl to get back. Tonight, she noticed she hadn’t returned after twenty minutes. That, or she’d drifted off, and Serena had come and gone once again, or she’d read the clock wrong. Either way, it was odd, and Morgan decided she should go check on her. What if the dummy tripped in the dark and was sitting out there nursing a sprain? Or got caught getting one of her infamous midnight snacks, and needed an alibi? What kind of cousin would she be if she didn’t at least go see if she was okay?

So, Morgan slipped out of her bunk and quietly tiptoed to the door, waiting to slip her sandals on outside, as not to make any unnecessary noise. The screen door latch clicked as she gently pressed it to the frame, and she trekked through the mostly dark path to the bathroom. Bugs hovered around the light by the entrance, and she swatted the swarm away as she peered inside. “Sere? You in here? You okay?” With no answer, she looked in the stalls to double check before going back outside. Where was Serena?

She wasn’t getting a midnight snack. The cafeteria was empty.

She wasn’t taking a midnight swim. The pool had no occupants.

Morgan was about to give up and double back when she thought she saw something out of the corner of her eye. As she got closer, she swore she heard voices. It was coming from the lake. Deciding it would be faster to take the wooded path, and not the neatly paved one further away, she made her way through the trees and underbrush until she could see what she had heard.

Serena was swimming in the lake. Her bright pink beach towel was hanging on a railing, and had been what caught Morgan’s eye. And she wasn’t alone. It was dark in the water, away from the light pole, but Morgan made out the face. It was the guy from the bonfire. Kayden’s friend. Kayden’s friend who he talked into working here. His friend who was breaking a  _ rule _ . That was some juicy gossip. She let her mind wander for a moment on how she’d hang this over Kayden’s stupid pretty head.

Giggles from the water broke her from her thoughts.  _ Oh, right. _ She was here to do something, not fantasize about teasing Kayden. 

Morgan felt unsure about what to do now that she was confronted with her cousin’s whereabouts. All the spaced-out moments, quietness, side glances, and overt tiredness finally made sense. Serena was into Tall, Dark, and Handsome Gatorade Guy. And, apparently, they were meeting up at night to keep it under wraps.

Mr. Anderson was a nice person, but he had a strict no-dating policy for his staff. Maybe it was one too many teenage break ups causing drama that caused the rule? Maybe a parent complained? Morgan didn’t know, but she did know what would happen if anyone got caught. She also knew that if Serena got sent home over this, there was no way in Hell her mother would let Morgan stay the rest of the summer without her. Morgan could not risk going back home, especially since the package of college admission packets delivered to her had gone back into the trash where she’d left them. Where they  _ belonged _ .

Morgan was agitated and didn’t want to cause a scene by confronting them both in the water. Serena she could talk to, but she didn’t know this Darien guy. Would he yell back at her? Tell her she was a dumb kid? She didn’t know. How could she get them out, separately? Serena would recognize her voice in an instant, and Morgan wanted them to scatter, so that would not do.

Luckily for Morgan, she had a great impression of Kayden in her toolbox, something she practiced often behind his back. Squaring her shoulders and clearing her throat, Morgan called out, using her hands cupped around her mouth to project the sound. “WHO’S OUT PAST CURFEW?!” Was her Kayden voice perfect? Probably not, but it worked. The two quickly exited the water, gathered their things, and split up after a chaste kiss on the cheek.

Morgan spied which way her cousin took and cut Serena off. 

“What the hell?” Serena shrieked, cheeks flushed from running. “That was you?!” she accused.

Morgan wagged her finger back and forth, silencing her, and then rested both hands firmly on her hips. “You don’t get the moral high ground here.”

“You scared the crap out of us!”

_ “Good.” _

Serena huffed and bent over to slip her sandals on, having the sense to at least protect her feet now that she knew she wasn’t actually in trouble, and didn’t need to run away.

“You can’t just break curfew to go smoosh faces with some college guy. You know what will happen!” Morgan accused. “How many times have you done this?”

“None of your business. And besides, he’s not just some guy.”

“He could be Jesus and it wouldn’t matter.”

Dry clothes draped over her shoulders, Serena mirrored her cousin’s imposing stance. “No one is going to find out.”

“I found out.”

“Because you’re a weirdo stalker who is obviously not a heavy sleeper.”

“If I found out, other people can find out,” Morgan began, her tone starting to mirror Jayden’s when he lectured her about college. “And if other people find out, Kayden will find out. And if he finds out, you’re going to be sent home. And if you get sent home, my mother will pull me for the summer, _ and I will never forgive you. _ ”

“They’re friends! He won’t CARE!” Serena’s face scrunched up in anger, her cheeks reddened, and her small hands formed into fists at her sides. “You’re just mad that I found someone I really like. You don’t know what that’s like! You’re… you’re jealous!”

Morgan knew her cousin was just mad, possibly a little embarrassed, and knew if she didn’t hold her tongue this would get out of hand. It didn’t mean it didn’t sting, though. Serena knew her best. Serena knew where to strike. Morgan had made her mad, and Serena was going to make sure Morgan felt just as bad. There had only been the one time Morgan had liked someone enough to act on it, and she fell flat on her face, mortified and heartbroken. Bringing it up was a low blow. Morgan bit back her reaction and did the only thing left: she relaxed her posture, and motioned back up the path, exasperated. “Let’s get back before anyone notices.”


	5. Chapter 5

In very unlike Serena fashion, the two did not end up swapping shifts Friday. The verbal agreement dissolved the moment Morgan had lured her cousin from the water that night. She probably wouldn’t be able to get another favor out of her for the rest of the summer. If they were both still here, she thought sourly. Which left her to the will of Kayden the Terrible when it came down the schedule.

Her annoyance spilled into all her actions that morning. From being clumsy at breakfast, to squeezing too much sunscreen into her hand (and having to find someone to rub the excess onto. Maddie to the rescue!). She rifled through her bag looking for the water shoes she needed at the lake.  _ The damn lake _ . An ugly sigh escaped her lips and she caught Rae peering back at her through her reflection in the mirror across the room.

“Everything alright over there?”

Morgan huffed, finally pulling the shoes out. “Yeah.” She was sure her reply was far from believable, especially to the skeptical Rae, who knew her pretty well. Morgan couldn’t chance anyone getting suspicious now that she knew what was going on behind all their noses. “That jerk signed me up for the lake shift, that’s all.”

Rae finished putting in her earring and turned to face her. “I thought you were going to try and switch.”

Morgan shrugged, and began shoving things back into her bag unceremoniously. “Didn’t work out.”

“That’s too bad. I know you hate the lake. I’ll see if my group can make it out after the stables and archery. I’ll keep you company for a while.”

Morgan smiled. “Can I yell at your campers?”

“Absolutely not.”

“Darn. See you later, Pyro!” Morgan blew a quick kiss into the air and left, fairly confident she’d played that well enough to avoid any suspicion. Slipping on her bright red sunglasses, she started walking down the path to the office to pick up the keys for the sheds down by the water. Not only did Sir Frowns-A-Lot give her the lake shift, he gave her the opening shift. Jerk.

She entered the air conditioned office, basking in the pleasantly cool air for a moment before she spotted ebony hair behind the desk.

Darien.

She briefly cursed the universe and closed the door behind her, closing the distance between her and the desk in a few strides.

He looked up to her, nothing but a cup of hot black coffee and laptop on the desk. “Good morning, how--” he paused and slowed, seemingly realizing who she was in that moment. “How can I help you?” His tone never left being polite, but there was something awkward there she couldn’t place.

“I need the keys to the lake sheds.” He turned around in his chair to search for them in the drawers behind him. “They should have an orange lanyard,” she offered when it seemed he couldn’t immediately find them.

An “ah ha” escaped his lips as he found them and turned back around. “Thanks. I’m still learning the ins and outs around here.”

Morgan resisted the urge to tell him to re-read the code of conduct section of the employee handbook, and instead offered some words of encouragement. “You’ll catch on. Give it time.” She took the keys, after signing them out on the clipboard hanging from the wall adjacent to the desk, and bid him a good day.

She would certainly not be having one. Her help was late, which left her to try and set up all by herself. She scraped her leg trying to move things around inside the shed. A plastic crate fell down, knocking her sunglasses from her head, crushing them as it all hit the floor. They were cheap, and not worth anything, but they were her favorite, and it pissed her off. She managed, after some effort, to pull everything out and drag all the inflatable tubes out on the shore, but hooking up the air pump to the compressor turned out to be trickier than she thought. She’d seen it done before, but she just couldn’t quite figure it out. She wasn’t even going to attempt to try and drag out the giant inflatable climbing thing they had. And the kayaks? Those kids were just going to have to wait. This was too much for one person.

Morgan wasn’t one to admit defeat, but the universe was hardcore not on her side today. Swallowing her pride, she pulled out her walkie from her bag and got a hold of Kayden.

“Hey, can you send someone down here to help?”

There was a pause. Probably checking his clipboard, she thought. “Brad was supposed to be there nearly an hour ago.”

“I am aware.”

She imagined his grumpy face scowling as he thought of what to do. “I’ll get someone down. And, I’ll delay the first group to give you time to finish.”

“Thanks.” Kayden was surprisingly helpful, she thought, and didn’t sound at all annoyed.   
  
“Call sooner next time.” 

There it was, Morgan thought. There was no time to shoot back a witty response; the radio went silent.  _ Are you kidding me?!  _ Her body tensed with anger as she stared at the silent device and fought the urge to throw the stupid thing into the lake, resigning instead to throw it down into the grainy sand below her. It wasn't quite as satisfying, but if she got caught in a lecture about respecting camp property today she might actually snap. Morgan inhaled a deep breath, and sharply exhaled, letting the tension leave her. At least help was on the way, she supposed. Deciding to be productive, she began trying to figure out the air hoses again. Maybe she was just flustered before and sabotaged herself? Wishful thinking, most likely, but she tried again anyway.   
  
“Need some help?”

Morgan turned to the male voice behind her, expecting to find the help she was promised. However, about ten feet away stood a tanned, platinum blonde, stupidly gorgeous face that she’d never seen before. She guessed he was about her age, and definitely not a staff member, his clothes were too nice. He was decked out in Hurley gear, head to toe, shell necklace tucked neatly under his collar. “Uh…” was all she managed to say while dusting off and standing up. “Not unless you know how to mess with this compressor hose.” He grinned and took a few strides her way, and she lost herself staring for a moment. “Did, uh, Kayden send you?”

He laughed. “No.”

She echoed his laugh. “I didn’t think you looked familiar. I just thought maybe you were some new staff member I hadn’t met or something.” She stuck her hand out to shake his, but regretted it, feeling dumb for being so formal. “I’m Morgan.”

He smiled warmly and took her hand in his, raising it to his lips for a quick peck, causing her face to flush a warm pink color. “I’m Aaron. It’s nice to meet you, Morgan.”

Morgan’s mouth went dry, his eyes so intense and so close. Her palms suddenly felt sweaty, and she nervously pulled her hand back and tucked some stray hair behind her ears.

He tilted his head and grinned mischievously. “You act like no one’s ever given you a proper greeting before.”

Her face was now red with embarrassment. 

“Well, that’s a shame.” Aaron turned to the sound of a golf cart coming down the path to the beach entrance. “Well, that’s my cue. I should get out of here before I get you in trouble.” With a wink, he jogged towards the opposite path.

Morgan watched in wonder as he ran off into the trees, completely oblivious that the golf cart had arrived and its passenger was nearly next to her.   
  
“Hey there!” the driver greeted, causing her to finally snap back to reality and turn around. “Kay says you needed some help?” Before her stood a smiling mess of wavy chestnut hair attached to an imposing amount of muscle mass. Morgan recognized him as one of the maintenance crew, but she couldn’t for the life of her put a name to his face.

“Oh! Yes. Yes, I do.”   
  
“Well, your chariot has arrived. What can I do for ya?”

Morgan smiled, now out of her trance and looked for a nametag. “Well, Nate, I can’t hook up the compressor, and I need to get the floating climbing wall out on the water.”

He flexed his muscles, stretching his shirt nearly to its limit, reminding her very much of Gaston from the popular Disney film. “I’ve got this. Lead the way.”

Nate made quick work of getting the inflatable set up, and got the air compressor set up for the tubes. Morgan took care of those while he effortlessly got the kayak rack pulled out and ready.

“Heads up!” she called out as she tossed a bottle of water his way and got one for herself. He caught it and made his way back over to the shed. “Thanks for all your help.”

“Hey, no problem. And that’s quite the arm you’ve got. I’m hosting a little tournament tonight down at the archery range. You ever thrown axes? Prize is twenty bucks.”

She laughed at his wiggling eyebrows. “I’ll come take your money.”

He roared with deep laughter. “A confident squirt. I like it. And I won’t go easy on ya. Be there around eight.” With that, he waved goodbye and hopped back in his golf cart. Maybe her day wouldn’t be a total crapshoot after all, she thought.

Her relief finally showed, absolutely apologetic as he could possibly be, and their shift ended without much of a hitch. Rae never made it down to the lake, but Morgan decided she’d ask her to come along later. If it was a partner's game, she wanted someone she knew to team up with. Besides, Rae was a badass archer, and how hard could axes be? Honestly, Morgan wasn’t even really sure who was coming, and because of that, she definitely wanted a familiar face around. Morgan wasn’t one to be careless like that. Camp was safe, but boys were dumb.

Unfortunately for Morgan, Rae was taking her group to a 7pm showing of Harry Potter in the auditorium, and wouldn’t be back in time. Amy furiously shook her head no, and Molly and Serena were nowhere to be found, not that Serena would have been a viable option. They were still not speaking.

“Soo… Maddie,” Morgan began smoothly, sliding to sit next to the much taller girl, who was sitting on her bunk, book in hand.

Maddie, the incredibly patient saint she was, looked over to the blonde sweetly. “Yes?”

“How does upstaging some muscle heads and taking their money sound to you?” A quizzical look was her response. “Guys down at the stables are doing some axe-throwing thing, which can’t be that hard, and I got invited earlier, and I don’t want to go alone. So… come with me, pleeease?” she finished quickly.

Maddie laughed and placed a bookmark in her book. “That’s what those idiots were planning? No wonder they got quiet when I asked. Let’s go take that money!”

Morgan’s face lit up with excitement. “Yessss. I love you! Let’s go!”   
  
-.-.-.-.-.-

The two girls arrived at the stables promptly at 8pm. It was still relatively light outside, but the sun had fallen behind the trees and lightning bugs had made their appearance, softly and gracefully shining their lights off and on, dancing in the air. Someone had strung up some cheap Christmas lights, and a flood light lit up the axe throwing area, which was a few sheets of plywood propped up against the archery targets with crude red bullseyes painting on them.

Morgan found the whole thing charming. There were some voices inside the stable, laughing and talking, and she spotted someone starting a fire off to the side in a clearing. As they got close enough, she started to look for Nate, but only saw a few people she assumed worked over on this side of camp, as Maddie gave quick passing greetings. It was a minute later they were all taken by surprise as “We Are the Champions” blared from a stereo speaker being carried by Nate himself into the throwing area. All he needed was a smoke machine, Morgan found herself thinking. When he reached his mark, he tossed a beat up baseball cap down in front of him.

“Alright. Pony up! Winner takes the pot!”

Morgan’s face flashed in surprise. He didn’t say anything about bringing money. “Hey!” she shouted in protest.

Maddie rested her hand on Morgan’s shoulder. “I see he forgot to mention that. Stupid game he plays to get you to try and embarrass yourself. If you don’t have cash, you do a dare. But don’t worry about it. I’ve got ya.” With that, Maddie winked at her bunkmate and strode up to the hat, smirking when Nate noticed her. “Surprised to see me? Trying to win what you owe me?”

Nate huffed. “You playing or not?”

Maddie dropped a few bucks in the hat. “That’s for me and Blondie over there. Shame on you, by the way. She’s too nice for you to prank.”

“I thought you found my games charming.”

“In your dreams!” she teased. “Now, count the money I’m sure to win.”

“Har har. Away with you. Next!”

Maddie flipped her ponytail as she walked back over. “A scoundrel, that one.”

Morgan bit her bottom lip. “He was so nice earlier. It’s weird.”

“Ah, well, there’s Work Nate, and there is Competitive Nate. You met Work Nate, who is goofy and charming. Competitive Nate needs a kick in the gnads.”

Morgan snorted and the two gathered with the other participants who’d lined up.

“Alrighty, then!” Nate’s voice boomed. “Everyone gets two practice throws to warm up. Then, it’s best of three with your opponent. We’ll do this round robin style. Last two throw for the pot. Any questions?”

Everyone in the group agreed in some form, a nod, a cheer, a “let’s go!” and Morgan suddenly found herself feeling a little nervous. She’d never actually thrown an axe. Would two throws be enough practice? She was naturally good at most physical feats, but not always right away. And it wasn’t even her money. What if she lost Maddie’s cash?

Maddie must have sensed her apprehension. She gave Morgan a good-natured slap on the shoulder. “You’ll be fine. We’ll put you at the end of the line. Just watch everyone else and take notes.”

And so she did.

Nate went first. He made it look easy. All five of his throws hit the red center of his board. He definitely could have skipped the warmup. His opponent kept his near the center, but Nate was clearly the winner.

Morgan watched the next groups of guys compete and tried to study when they released their grips. 

Maddie was in the third group, the last group before Morgan. She threw as well as Nate, and clearly won against the other girl.

Morgan steeled herself and decided to throw first. It was better to just get it over with, she felt. She tested the weight of the axe in her hands, and did a practice swing to see where it felt most natural to let go.

“Alright, Miss Lifeguard, you’re up!” Nate announced.

Her first practice throw landed in the center of the board, but near the ground and definitely no where near the circle. She needed to throw with more force. The crowd went “oooh” in disappointment. She relaxed her shoulders and got ready for her second, and last, practice shot. It landed above the first, still in the center, and much closer to the bullseye. “Closer!” someone yelled in encouragement. She was as ready as she’d ever be. Biting her lower lip, she hurled the weapon forward, lodging the tip just at the bottom of the red center.

Maddie cheered for her, as someone else yelled out “beginner’s luck!” It was the best of her three, but it was enough to advance.

Morgan didn’t make it past the second round, but she was satisfied with her performance. The competition ended with a tense battle between Nate and Maddie, both hitting the center of their targets more than three times each. Nate ended up being the first to miss, and Maddie declared victory.

“Pay up, pretty boy!”

“I’m pretty now?” he teased, handing over the money from the hat.

“Don’t press your luck,” she said as she accepted the cash, poking him in the chest with her other hand. Then, she swiftly snatched the hat. “This is mine, too!”

“Hey!” he reached for the hat, but not before Maddie placed it on top of her head and dodged out of the way. “Get back here!”

Morgan watched as her friend led the burly handyman on a chase around the stables and out to the fire. When she finally turned around, her laughter finally ended, a familiar, and unwelcome, set of steel grey eyes and light hair caught her attention. “What are you doing here?” she asked in surprise, her anger from earlier slowly building back up the longer she looked at him.

“I could ask you the same. This isn’t your normal crowd. Where’s that cousin of yours?”

She paused. Did he know about Serena and Darien? Had Serena blown it already? The way Kayden asked, she couldn’t tell. There was a chance he was just asking to be nosy. ‘Nothing goes on around this camp without my knowing,’ she imagined him saying. “I’m not her babysitter. And I for one enjoy expanding my friend circle. What’s your excuse? What brings you out of your lair?”

It was his turn to pause. She wondered if he was trying to think of a reason she couldn’t be here, or to hold something over her head for later, or make her leave. She was having fun, and he just couldn’t stand it, she thought. He continued after a moment, “I was looking for Darien. I thought he might’ve gotten pulled into Nate’s shenanigans when I didn’t see him after dinner.”

Darien? Maybe he  _ was _ getting suspicious. Morgan needed to throw him off somehow so he’d stop asking about Serena. “Aww,” she teased. “Can’t find your boyfriend?” When he gave no response, she smirked victoriously, and grabbed the recently-returned Maddie’s arm from behind, gaining her attention. “Nice win! Hey, weren’t you telling me about the horse you board here earlier?”

Maddie’s face lit up like a proud parent. “Rosebud?! Ooh, do you wanna go meet her?”

“ _ Would _ I?” she looped arms with Maddie, shooting a smug look behind her, and took off, leaving Kayden without a chance at a comeback.   
  
-.-.-.-.-.-

Hanging out with Maddie was fun, but being a bit of an outsider to the group left Morgan missing her cousin. It’d only been a few days, but she missed Serena. She wanted to tell her about the hot guy from the lake, about how dumb Brad was, and how Nate came to the rescue, and how much of a badass Maddie was. She wanted to complain about stupid Kayden.

But she couldn’t.

The lights were out when she got back to the cabin. Serena was asleep in her bunk when Morgan got back from changing clothes and brushing her teeth. Morgan couldn’t help herself, and she found herself crawling into the small one-person bed, wrapping her arms around the sleeping girl, snuggling close, like they did when they were younger.

It didn’t take long before Serena opened her eyes and sleepily began asking questions. “Wha-what you want? Why’re you in my bed? I’m tired.”

Morgan smiled and brushed a hair out of her cousin’s face. “I missed you, dummy.” Serena rolled her eyes and tossed her body over so she wouldn’t have to look at her. “Sere…” Morgan managed to wrap her arms back around her and pressed her head onto Serena’s shoulder. “I’m sorry, Sere. I know you’re mad. I was just… scared,” she admitted. “Scared that our summer would be over. And I’d have to go back home. But, I want you to know your secret is safe with me. Okay? I mean it. I’d never betray you like that. Can we not be mad anymore?”

Serena didn't say anything, but she squeezed Morgan’s hand, which was all that had to be said.


	6. Chapter 6

Kayden stood there in the patchy, horse-trodden grass and dirt, glaring silently as Morgan walked away with her taller friend. It wasn’t the worst thing she’d ever said, but did she really just call him gay?! Surely, he thought, she didn’t really think so. It had to be one of her remarks meant to get under his skin. She couldn’t really think he was into guys.

Right?

He ran his hand down his face, irritated. What was he doing here again? Darien. That’s right. But where was he?

He and Darien had met their first year of college. They typically spent summers apart, but Darien’s internship opportunity fell through at the last minute, and he needed somewhere to go. He didn’t have any family, so Kayden offered him a job and the rest was history.   
  
Darien had seemed excited to get to hang out all summer, but now the idiot never seemed to be around.

Kayden took one more quick look around, walking through the small gathering this time. Not finding who he was looking for, he began to leave, but had to decline, twice, to accept Nate’s challenge to throw axes, before he could do so. Nate was always trying to get him to participate in some foolish physical challenge, and Kayden was always reminding him that he wasn’t into gambling.

By the time his slow stride carried him back to the cabin it was nearly dark. The glow of the television could be seen flashing from the windows. As he suspected, Jayden and Zack were furiously pressing buttons on their controllers, headsets on, playing Halo. Kayden considered turning in for the night, but grabbed a controller and headset, and then joined in their game.

Jayden gave him a baffled look as he fell back into the seat cushion next to him, but shrugged and welcomed him to the fray with a killshot to the chest of his avatar.

They played a few rounds of online multiplayer capture the flag before Zack got up to get snacks, leaving just the two of them.

“You’re quiet,” said Jayden.

“I’m always quiet.”

“Okay, correction: you’re more quiet than usual.”

“And this is a problem?”

“Just seems like, I dunno, something is bothering you,” Jayden shrugged and continued to play.

“No,” Kayden shot back in defense quietly. He lied. Something was bothering him. But was it that his best friend was ghosting him, or that he cared that Morgan thought he was gay? People said stupid things all the time. Why did it bother him so much? He lined his character’s scope and took out some unsuspecting opposing players with a sniper’s rifle.

“Nice!” Zack exclaimed, setting some bowls of snacks on the oversized oak coffee table in front of them. He sat back down, watching the gameplay on the screen. “Quiet  _ and _ playing more ruthless than usual. Yup. Something is bugging him.”

Kayden sighed. Which was easier to talk about? There would be consequences to both subjects, but if he didn’t own up to something, they’d never shut up. So, with that in mind, he went for the less deep subject. “Your cousin thinks I’m gay.”

Zack nearly started choking on a pretzel.

“What?” Jayden hit the pause button, nearly laughing. “She knows you’ve dated girls.”

Zack had cleared his throat just enough to cough out a wisecrack. “Maybe she thinks he’s bi, then?”

Kayden shot an icy glare at Zack, who had anticipated this and moved himself back just enough to avoid any punches to the arm, grinning like the Cheshire cat. “Ass.”   
  
Jayden chuckled and took the opportunity to get a handful of popcorn. “Well, you did basically reject her in front of everyone when she pretty much confessed her love for you that one time.”

“She was thirteen!!” Kayden vividly remembered the unfortunate incident.

Jayden shrugged. “You know Morgan. She’s so full of herself that you must be gay if you don’t think she’s pretty.”

“I never said she wasn’t pretty,” Kayden mumbled to himself, focusing back on the screen in front of them.

“What was that?” Zack pried.

“Shut up.”

-.-.-.-.-.-

Maybe he should have talked about Darien ignoring him instead. Zack wouldn’t have teased him for the feelings of abandonment that brought up. He would have loved psychoanalyzing it and trying to trace it back to something, but he would have let it be after that. But no. Kayden had a dumb moment and spoke what should have been a mere thought in his head out loud, and Zack took amusement in teasing him about thinking Morgan was pretty every chance he got.

Kayden was handling it well until Wednesday, when Zack said something about it outside the walls of their cabin. He saw red and pulled the smaller man closer to him so he could warn him quietly to keep his goddamn mouth shut. The last thing Kayden needed was some rumor getting to Morgan that he thought she was pretty. He was fairly certain that’s how the whole incident four years ago started. Morgan got it in her head that he thought she was pretty and the next thing he knew, she was following him around like a little lost puppy.

She was pretty, he thought, but she didn’t need to know he thought so. Lots of girls were pretty. Morgan was prettier, but that was not the fucking point. She was one of his counselors and most definitely still underage.

While he was walking to check in at the front office, Kayden caught sight of that kid with the iPhone walking alone. He paused on the sidewalk for a brief moment to see if he seemed to be on his way somewhere, or just out looking for something to get into. The kid showed up for just enough of his activities to stay out of real trouble, but he’d been caught loitering a few times the previous week, which landed him on Kayden’s trouble list. When Kayden was confident he saw him enter the pool gate, he continued to the end of the sidewalk and entered the office.

A head of ebony hair swung around in the office chair to greet him. “Good afternoon, how can I--oh, hey, man. What’s up?”

Kayden shook his head as if to say ‘nothing.’ There were, of course, things to say, but Kayden wasn’t here to talk about any of that right now. He closed the door behind him and walked up to the desk. “I just came to grab the canoe trip rosters so I could hand them out.”

“Oh, I just saw those. Just a second.” Darien turned and searched through a filing cabinet. “Found them!”

“Thanks,” Kayden said as he accepted the files and clipped them onto the spare clipboard he was carrying.

“Hey,” Darien started to say, then ran a hand through his hair sheepishly. “Sorry I blew you off the other day. When are you guys gaming again? I thought I could come by.”

Kayden’s face quirked a bit, eyebrows raised in surprise. “Uh, we could tonight. I’m sure the others would be down.”

“Cool.”

“Alright. See you later.”

“Later.”

Kayden left the office, spirits lifted, in search of the wayward teen with no business spending his summer not working. Zack had once suggested that Kayden was jealous of those campers, because their parents were wealthy enough that they didn't have to work. It wasn’t entirely without merit, but it wasn’t entirely accurate either. He knew from experience that kids and teens around here, especially the teens, found themselves in trouble more often than not when they had nothing to do. And that kid with the iPhone felt like every kid they’d ever kicked out rolled into one person.

The sounds of splashing and laughter hit his ears before the sunscreen and chlorine hit his nostrils. The pool was packed this afternoon. He took a spot near the concrete wall by the entrance and scanned for the perceived troublemaker. After a few minutes, he spotted him perched on a lounge chair, talking to a girl, because of course he was, Kayden thought. They were laughing about something. Then, the kid stood up and began walking toward the vending machines. He hadn’t been able to see the girl before through the crowd, but it cleared for a second and Kayden saw Morgan there, lounging in the chair, orange bikini, sun hat and black rimmed sunglasses--not her usual red ones. Why did he know that?   
  
And. And that bikini. That was.

Well. 

It was  _ inappropriate _ . And she didn’t have any damn right to look that good in a bikini. She was here to work, not look -  _ pretty _ ? No - casual. Zacks taunts were getting to him. Morgan was in inappropriate attire for an employee of this camp. Period.

Kayden wasn’t sure what came over him, but before the iPhone toting playboy could return, he strode over to her chair. She only looked up when his shadow blocked the sunlight from her face. She pulled her glasses down and looked up at him annoyed. “What?”

He hadn’t really thought of what he was going to say, he’d blame the - distractions, but then he’d have to admit to himself that he’d noticed anything in the first place. “That bikini is not regulation,” he pointed out flatly.

“Good thing I’m not on the schedule today then,” she countered, even-toned.

They stared at each other for a few moments before his eye twitched and she grinned as if victorious.

“Was there something you needed? Or are you just here to make sure no one’s having a good time?”

He glanced over at the vending machines, ignoring the jab. “Actually, I was here to make sure your friend over there wasn’t getting into any more trouble.”

“Aaron?” she looked in his direction and waved at the person in question when she saw him returning with drinks.

“He’s trouble. I’d hate to see you be in trouble, too.”

She looked back to Kayden and stuck out her tongue, blowing a raspberry. “I don’t need a babysitter. You can go now.”

Kayden shook his head at her childish antics, and made sure to shoot a warning glare Aaron’s way before leaving. Kayden took his position seriously, and he wouldn’t have that idiot get one of his counselors in trouble.


	7. Chapter 7

The day after the axe-throwing competition, Morgan and Serena took a short hike after breakfast through one of the carved out paths in the nearby trees, to have a heart-to-heart and try to mend things between them. It was Serena’s idea. Serena liked to talk about things before moving on. Morgan would have been happy to leave it at her apology the night prior. 

“I don’t like fighting with you,” Serena started, the lighting filtering through the leaves, casting patchwork shadows across her face.

“Me either, Sere,” she replied as she reached over and squeezed the other girl’s hand, keeping their strides in sync.

“I can’t just not see him, you know?”

Morgan nodded. “I know, but sneaking around doesn’t seem like the best of ideas, either.”

“People can’t know we are together.”

Morgan looked over at her cousin teasingly. “Serena’s got a  _ boyfriend _ .”

Serena smiled sheepishly. “Yeah.”

Morgan draped her arm over Serena’s shoulders and tugged at her, bringing them into a side hug. “I’m happy for you, but we’ve got to figure something out. I don’t want anyone going home.”

“Got any ideas, smarty-pants?”

Morgan let go and brought her hand to her chin for dramatic effect. “Hrm. Let me think for a minute.”

Dead leaves, victims of a wind storm no doubt, crunched under their feet as they continued down the path. Serena stopped to watch a butterfly land on some flowers, while some squirrels ran after each other up and down a tree nearby. Oddly enough, it gave Morgan an idea.

“Sere, what if you hung out with him around other people? Like, me, or in another group. You’d just need to convince others that you’re friends. No PDAs, tease each other a little. No one would know you like each other.”

A devious grin spread across the crouched girl’s face. “Like you and Kayden?”

“What?!”

Serena stood up and turned to her fuming cousin. “I’m just saying, what you said, sounds like you and Kayden.”

“I am offended. I’ll have you know,” Morgan started, hands on hips, “There is someone here that I like. But it is certainly  _ not  _ Kayden Anderson.”

“Ooh, tell me more! Who?”

Morgan started walking again, Serena followed excitedly. “No one you know. But, we aren’t talking about me right now.”

“You’ll spill as soon as that’s done?”

Morgan nodded. “So, why don’t we start small? Invite Darien to sit with us at lunch. We can work up from there.”

“Are you offering to chaperone all our dates?”

“I’m offering to keep your butt out of trouble,” Morgan corrected.

“Okay. Now, tell me about this  _ boy _ .”

“I don’t get to grill you about Darien first?”

Serena giggled. “You’ll have plenty of time to ask him yourself, silly.”

-.-.-.-.-.-

Operation Follow the White Hare Act II was going pretty well if Morgan said so herself. She’d crafted a few excuses for them to hang out over the weekend, and everyone seemed oblivious that they were seeing each other. Morgan covertly swatted apart a few attempts at hand-holding. And when the two sat next to each other at the campfire, Morgan swiftly wedged herself between them, s’more supplies in hand.

It was kind of exhausting, but worth it. Not just to see Sere happy, or because they were talking again. More importantly, everyone was finally getting to sleep again. No longer was Morgan worried about Serena sneaking out.

Morgan discovered Darien was a foster kid who was now pre-med with stellar grades who liked Weezer and Lifehouse, and spent his weekends volunteering. His summer plans had fallen through last minute, and that’s why he was here. Serena joked it was fate. Morgan reminded her to hush.

Things were going well for Morgan, too. She wasn’t looking to date anyone, but Aaron was nice, and he always seemed to know when she had a shift at the pool. He made her feel like a priority. He brought her snacks and helped her get sunscreen on her back where she couldn’t reach. He was funny and charming and had such interesting stories to tell her. And unlike most people, he didn’t scoff when she said she had no desire to take the college path after high school. It felt so nice to talk to someone about her dreams and not face judgmental disappointment. 

On Wednesday, they planned to meet up at the pool, even though she had the day off. And since she had the day off, she could really hang out and talk the whole time, not just on her breaks. For fun, she decided to wear the bright orange bikini she had splurged on in the spring. It caught her eye immediately that day she and Sere were shopping, and she  _ had _ to have it. It had spent this whole time in the bottom of her duffle, but today, she proudly strutted it around in all its glory.

They had been hanging out for a while when grumpy Kayden showed up and stomped over to her. That dummy wrote the schedule, he should have known she was off today. A strange scowl crossed his face when he looked over to Aaron that felt odd to her, but Kayden was a weirdo and she never knew what he was thinking. He left soon after without incident. She didn’t know what his problem was, but she was glad he left. She spent the rest of the afternoon enjoying the company of Aaron.

It was Friday, when Morgan stopped to check and confirm the following week’s schedule, that she realized that there was a problem, and she was going to figure out what it was, because there was no way she was going to work four lake shifts in a row without having something to say about it.

Kayden had a habit of breaking up people having too much fun in the past. Best friend on your pool shift? Not anymore. Get along too well and try to make the day more bearable by coming up with games to pass the time? He’d squash that. But this, this felt personal. It was no secret that Morgan hated working at the lake. Was this retaliation? Had she gone too far with the boyfriend line? She was just trying to throw him off Serena and Dariens’s trail. Or was this punishment for hanging out with someone he didn’t like? Did he think he could just control her like that?

Morgan had honestly wanted to craft a well-planned argument, cover all her bases and leave no room for Kayden to get a word in, but she saw him walking back from the showers with Jayden and she couldn’t help but run outside from her cabin to accost him.

“Kayden!”

Both Kayden and Jayden stopped in their tracks, hair damp, towels draped over their shoulders, shower caddies in hand, in their flip-flops, dumbfounded by the fuming blonde in their way.

“What?”

“You know  _ what _ ! What the hell is wrong with you?”

It was neither late or early enough in the evening for such a commotion to avoid gaining spectators. Faces started appearing in cabin windows, and those who were outside were trying to casually catch what was going on without gawking. No one ever yelled at Kayden. Kayden was always the one correcting people. Morgan didn’t care.

“Could we maybe do this inside?” he suggested, noticing their audience.

“Oh, I’m  _ sorry _ , am I embarrassing you?”

“Yes. And yourself. Come on.”

He started to walk away with Jayden, leaving Morgan behind to huff and stomp her foot. This is what she got, she supposed. She wanted to be in control of this conversation and leave him feeling dumb, but now she was following him to his lair and no longer had the upper hand. Classic. Morgan didn’t bother to try and catch the screen door, even though she knew it was missing its spring and would slam closed if she didn’t stop it. It made Kayden flinch ever so slightly, though, and that made her happy.

“Now that we’re indoors,” Kayden began as he set his belongings down on the counter to be put away later. “What’s wrong?”

It annoyed her how calm he sounded. She watched Jayden duck into the hallway, presumably to put his stuff away, though she was sure he’d keep an ear to the door. “I saw the schedule,” she spat out accusingly. He just looked at her like he didn’t understand her issue. She stared him down angrily, scowling at his straight faced expression, with those stupid strong jaw lines of his. She wanted to punch him. She ended up taking a few steps in his direction as she spoke. “Why do I have so many lake shifts this week? I  _ never _ get this many. You  _ know _ I hate the lake shift. I  _ literally _ complain every time it happens.”

“And?”

She was only about two feet away now, and strangely, she found herself having to ignore how good he smelled right now and remain angry. “And I feel like you’re punishing me and I want to know why.”

“I’m not punishing you,” he defended, glaring down at her now. “I had to adjust the schedule. Andrew is going on the canoe trip. I need someone down there who has the experience, and I chose you, because you’re the most qualified.”

“Bullshit.” 

“Please, enlighten me with your theory, Morgan.”

“You hate that I’m still hanging out with Aaron after you told me not to.”

“I told you he was  _ trouble _ ,” he corrected.

“And I told you I don’t need a babysitter! You have such a savior complex! I don’t need you to look out for me! I can take care of myself. And it’s bullshit to punish me over it!”

Kayden sighed. “It’s not a punishment. I told you this. But if you want to be bull-headed and not listen, then go right ahead! I’m not going to waste any more energy trying to convince you otherwise.”

It infuriated her that he was trying to explain away his obvious retaliation. “Why? Because I’m a dumb blonde whose too stupid to understand?”

Kayden pinched the bridge of his nose. “Why are you bringing that up? That was like, four years ago.”

“Because, you’re a jerk, Kayden, and I’m not going to let you forget it!” She glared at his stupid, blank face just long enough to catch her breath, before turning on her heel to exit, slamming the screen door behind her.


	8. Chapter 8

The big midsummer canoe trip stole both Molly and Rae from their cabin, among several others who didn’t normally herd kids around. It was an all hands on deck sort of situation that took the majority of the campers, too, leaving just a skeleton crew behind to take care of the few that stayed.

It also meant there was a whole week with a whole lot of nothing to do. Those shifts she lost her temper over were on call. She only had to go if someone called her on the walkie-talkie and said that they were bringing campers down, which only ended up being an hour or two the first two days. She almost felt bad.  _ Almost _ .

To kill time, she’d been hanging out at the pool with Serena, who was actually working. She wasn’t the only one visiting, however. Darien dared to come by and chat the first day, leaving only to fetch lunch for all three of them. The following day, he just showed up with food, saving himself the trip. Aaron happened to wander in that second day, and casually took the seat next to her as they ate.

“Uh, hi?” Serena looked to Morgan confused.

Morgan chuckled. “Oh, sorry. Guys, this is Aaron. Aaron, this is my cousin, Serena, and our friend Darien.”

Serena gave Morgan a thumbs up and an approving nod, seemingly happy with Morgan’s choice of crush.

“What was that about?” Aaron asked with a glint in his eye.

“Nothing, shush.”

“Okay.” He wasn’t convinced but didn’t elaborate either. “Anyone have any plans for later? Camp’s a ghost town. It almost makes me wish I’d gone on that dumb trip.”

“We were going to go to the stables this afternoon,” Darien stated.

“We were?”

Serena laughed at Morgan's question. “I told you  _ yesterday _ .”

“No, you said you  _ wanted _ to. You didn’t say we were  _ going _ .”

“It was  _ implied _ . Darien said he knew how to ride, and I told him I didn’t believe him, so we’re going so he can prove me wrong,” Serena said with a shrug.

“A doctor in training  _ and  _ you ride horses? Darien Shields, is there nothing you cannot do?” Morgan teased lightheartedly.

“Count me in,” Aaron said.

Morgan looked at Aaron, surprised. “Really?”

“Yeah, really. Why?”

She shook her head. “I just didn’t think horse riding was your thing.” She’d never seen him do anything athletic or involving getting dirty. Not once.

“Maybe you just don’t know enough about me yet,” he countered suggestively.

“Or maybe I’m right, and we’ll find out for sure later if you’re a fraud or not. You too, Darien!” 

Aaron raised his brows to the challenge and stole a chip from her bag, exaggerating every movement to eat it, all the while keeping a straight face and maintaining eye contact. “We’ll see.”

The group made plans to meet after dinner, once they were all free for the day but still early enough that they would have enough time before it got dark. Darien was already at the stables brushing a mare out, preparing to put on all the tack, when Serena and Morgan arrived. The stables were empty, so Serena hurried over to him and greeted him with a hug and quick kiss to the cheek. Darien’s face turned a cute rosy color, and Morgan had to stifle an urge to say “aww.”

“Serena,” he gently pushed her off, squeezing her hand as they broke contact. “I thought we were being discreet.”

Serena giggled and playfully smacked his chest. “No one’s here, silly. I looked.”

“Aye, yo!”

They all turned to find Aaron walking through the tall red barn doors. Darien shot a look at Serena as if to say ‘I told you so.’ Morgan was more interested in what Aaron was wearing. They were all in gym shorts, t-shirts and dirty sneakers. Aaron looked like he’d just walked out of a dressing room. Pastel plaid shorts, crisp Oxford polo and shoes that looked like they’d just come out of the box. She shifted her weight to one side, hip jutted out, while she examined his outfit. He really didn’t look ready to ride. It was too clean. Who would risk ruining new shoes by wearing them in a stable? He looked entirely out of place, and she suspected, smugly, that she was right about him not being able to ride a horse. At least he had the sense to change out of his flip-flops.

“Well,” Darien finally broke the silence. “I have one horse ready, and this one will be done in a minute. Aaron, you wanna get that horse ready?”

Morgan looked to where Darien was pointing. “Wait!”

“What?” both boys said in unison.

“We can’t ride that horse. That’s Rosebud. It’s Madelyn’s horse. She doesn’t belong to the camp. Pick a different one.”

Aaron shrugged. “Two horses will be enough. Unless the girls plan on riding on their own,” he said flirtatiously.

Serena giggled. “I’ll ride with you, Darien!”

Morgan shook her head. “I can get my own horse ready. And I will definitely be riding on my  _ own _ . Unless of course, you were lying, and need to ride with me because you don’t know what you’re doing.”

Aaron smirked. 

Not too much later, they were ready. All three horses trotted in the corral, for the riders to get used to the horses and let the horses get used to them. When everyone was comfortable, they left the enclosure and began to follow one of the equestrian trails through the woods. Darien and Serena took the lead, leaving Morgan and Aaron to follow.

“So, it’s lucky you didn’t get pulled to go on that canoe trip, isn’t it?” said Aaron.

“I guess,” Morgan replied. “I don’t lead a group, so it’s unlikely I’ll ever get picked. But, I don’t mind either way.”

“I’m glad you didn’t.” He winked and she rolled his eyes at his brazen flirting. “Have you ever gone on it, though?”

“When I was younger, yeah.”

“Did you like it?”

“Did you?” she replied sarcastically. Aaron had mentioned in passing that he’d been to the camp when he was younger, when he was unable to travel with his parents, so she knew at some point the canoe trip must have been something he’d done.

At that, he chuckled and brought his horse around her, taking the lead. “I never went.”

“What?” Morgan had never met a single person here who hadn’t been on that trip. Once you were old enough, you went. You paddled until you thought your arms would fall off, learned to set up a camp, build a fire, all that stuff. How had Aaron never been?

“I never went.”

“I heard you the first time.”

He brought his horse to a halt, causing her to abruptly stop, then turned in the saddle to speak to her. “The day before we were supposed to go, I was at the lake, and there was an accident on one of the inflatables, and I nearly drowned.”

A look of realization washed over Morgan’s face. “ _ You _ . You’re the kid I rescued.” That was the year the staff had approached her about joining the lifeguard program when she was old enough to apply. It was also a big part of the reason she hated shifts at the lake. That experience had her facing recurring nightmares for months. “I… I didn’t know.”

“I was a little disappointed you didn’t recognize me,” he admitted. “But, we were young then. I don’t look the same. I’ve grown into my looks. You have, too.” He gave her an appreciative look over, winked, and turned his horse to continue up the path.

Morgan blushed, but also felt confused. That was a weird thing to keep from her. Was he just waiting to see if she’d have some pang of recognition? How long was he going to let that go on? He’d grown nearly a foot taller and was dyeing his hair now. How would she have recognized him? He had left camp for the summer before they’d even returned from their canoe trip. It’s not like they’d been friends. She couldn’t shake the peculiar feeling, but got her horse moving back down the trail after him anyway. Serena and Darien would be at the rest area soon, and she needed to catch up.

Darien and Aaron were just tying off their horses when Morgan entered the clearing. Serena waved to her and continued to take some snacks out of her backpack, setting them onto the picnic table in front of her. Aaron helped her down and tied her horse off. When Darien was satisfied they’d all done a good job securing the animals, they joined Serena’s make-shift picnic. The spread included all the finest delicacies of camp: Skittles, M&Ms, some trail mix, and a lonely bag of pretzels. Morgan shifted her bag to her side and unloaded the bottles of water she’d agreed to pack.

Serena was in the middle of complimenting Darien’s equestrian skills when Morgan felt Aaron nudge her thigh with the back of his hand. She ignored it, but he did it again. He was grinning when she looked at him, so she looked down, only to find him holding a metal flask in his hand.

“Want some?” he nearly whispered.

Serena still had Darien’s full attention, thankfully. “What are you doing?” He rocked the flask back and forth in his palm, as if that would somehow make it more appealing to her. “Put that away,” she hissed. Booze was definitely a no-tolerance offense. She shook her head and ignored him as he turned to the side to take a swig without the other two seeing.

Morgan wasn’t just disappointed in his poor judgment, she was insulted he’d offer her alcohol. As much as she’d talked to him about how much she hated being home, and all the fights she had with her mother, he offered her something that could get her sent back there. In front of Kayden’s best friend, of all people! She didn’t trust Darien to keep a secret like that from Kayden. And, she was starting to wonder if Kayden was right about Aaron all along, which really had her head spinning. Since when did she ever see his side and agree?

She stayed pretty quiet the remainder of their excursion. Between the revelation that this whole time he knew who she was but didn’t say anything about it, followed by his casual offering, all she wanted to do was think. Knowing Serena wanted to spend as much time with Darien as she could, Morgan decided she’d finish the trail. So, when the candy was consumed, she suggested they continue before it got dark, even though she knew they had plenty of time to get back.

After getting the horses back in their stalls, she nimbly escaped an attempt by Aaron for a goodbye hug, and looped her arm through Serena’s, leaving him standing there, backpack slung over one shoulder with a sour look on his face.


	9. Chapter 9

A jerk with a savior complex.

Kayden exhaled through his nose as the screen door slammed shut, announcing her departure. In all the years he’d known Morgan, none of their spats had ever gotten so loud or explosive. He didn’t know what the hell was going on. He grabbed the discarded shower items and put them back in their rightful place before returning to get something to drink. Jayden was sitting on one of the old couches when he returned.

“You alright?” Jayden asked.

“I’ve been better.”

“Come own some noobs with me in multiplayer. You’ll feel better.”

Kayden didn’t particularly feel like playing, but it was a better option than sulking. They were a few rounds in when Jayden broke the ice. “What was she saying about Aaron, was it? Isn’t that the rich iPhone kid?”

Kayden groaned. “You were listening?”

Jayden shrugged. “Kinda hard not to. She was being pretty loud. I think the whole camp heard.”

“She’s something else when she’s mad.”

“That’s for sure. Sucks to be you.” Kayden reached over and punched his shoulder. “Fuck, dude!” He laughed as he rubbed his sore arm. “I don’t know anything about that guy, but I know why she hates the lake.”

“Because it’s not pristine white sand between her toes?” Kayden teased.

Jayden froze, letting his character get taken out, and stared at Kayden, a dead serious look on his face. “You really don’t know?”

“Know what?” he spat, still irritated from before.

“She had to rescue some kid from drowning when she was 12. He got knocked out doing something stupid, and she was the closest person. I was on the shore. So, she dove under to find him. It took a few tries. She had nightmares for a while, man.”

“What?” Kayden was shocked. He remembered the drowning, he had just never known she was involved. Her great disdain for lake shifts finally made sense.

“She never said anything?”

“No. Just complained she didn’t want to go down there. I always assumed it was just too dirty or something.”

Jayden shrugged. “Well, now you know.”

Fuck. All he had tried to do was get her away from Aaron. He just wanted to create a little distance. The shifts themselves would be as needed, with small groups, so it seemed like a pretty simple plan. He had nothing to punish her over. He only wanted to help her. He hated to see good people get caught up in the wrong crowd. Despite being a thorn in his side from time to time, Morgan was a good person. She had a great work ethic, had a great personality, a great smile--

“You probably shouldn’t have told her what to do, either,” Jayden said, interrupting his train of thought. “She’s stubborn and will dig her heels in just out of spite. So, watch out.”

“Sounds about right.”

-.-.-.-.-.-

The more Kayden thought about it over the next few days, the worse he felt. He’d gotten into the habit of being a little harder on her over the years, especially after her grand profession of love. He had needed a way to push her away a little, and help her get over her crush. Because there was no way  _ that _ was happening, and letting her down gently did not work. Once, he even went low enough to call her a dumb blonde when she didn’t pick up on something right away. What started as a reason to make her dislike him, became sort of a second nature over time, and her reactions kept it going after that. She was just so easy to rile up. After a while, she’d even started to throw digs and insults his way, and it almost felt like a game they were both playing. He’d not expected to ever actually upset her. Maybe she wasn’t as thick-skinned as he thought.

He  _ was _ a jerk.

Friday he’d scheduled her at the pool, if he remembered right. So, after checking to confirm, he made his way down there so he could try to apologize. The pool seemed like much more neutral ground than pulling her from her cabin, or trying at the lake. There weren’t too many people there when he arrived, just some younger kids who were not old enough to go on the big trip, and some whose parents opted out for various reasons. Kayden scowled when he caught sight of Aaron loitering around the vending machines. The little weasel was right where Kayden expected him to be, hanging out by the pool, waiting for Morgan. A quick glance around did not reveal her whereabouts. Kayden walked into the pool’s office to check the clipboard hanging in the small room. Her name was on the paper. It wasn’t like her to miss a shift. He scanned the area again when he went back outside, but still had no luck. Instead of wasting more time, Kayden strode over to the lifeguard stand and asked Justin, the lifeguard on duty, if he’d seen her.

Apparently, she’d called in sick, but Justin didn’t know anything else. Skeptical, but also oddly satisfied that if she  _ was _ faking it, it wasn’t to hang out with Aaron, Kayden left to go to the infirmary.

Inside, he was greeted by a dark-haired teenager with a short, blue tinted bob. He recognized her as one of the girls that shared a cabin with Morgan. Even if she hadn’t come in here sick, Amy, as her name tag said, could probably help him out. He couldn’t imagine Morgan not being friends with every girl in that room by now. Amy knew something.

Amy approached him first. “Hello. Can I help you? Are you hurt or not well?”

“Hello, Amy. No. I’m feeling fine.”

Confusion washed over her face. “Was there… something else then? Did we mess something up? I had nothing to do with that mishap with the paperwork last week.”

“No, no, no. I, uh, I’m actually looking for Morgan.”

“Oh?” This piqued her curiosity.

“Yeah, Justin said she called in sick. I was just checking up on that.”

“Oooh,” Amy said as if she’d just realized something.

“Have you seen her today? Is she here?” he asked after a pause. Amy seemed like she was nervous or didn’t want to tell him something incriminating.

“No.”

“Are you going to help me out, or…” he said after another short pause.

“It’s just…” He waited expectantly as the girl glanced around and leaned over the counter. “She isn’t feeling well.”

He raised an eyebrow, not really understanding why this girl was acting so strange. “I’d gathered that.”

“Yeah, but.” Amy stopped and bit her lower lip. “She’s not playing hooky,” she spoke quickly in a single breath.

“Oh-kay. Where is she then?”

She was nervously fidgeting with a pen now. She looked around suspiciously again and then motioned for him to come close so she could whisper something. “She has  _ cramps _ .”

“Oh.” And then it hit him. “Oooooh,” Kayden stepped back suddenly, the realization settling in. So that was it? Lady problems.  _ Morgan’s lady problems _ . He could handle this. He’d had girlfriends before, and they - they had lady problems from time to time. He wasn’t a child, and this - this was just part of life.

“So, please,” she began. “Don’t go bother her if it’s not important. I promise she’s not skipping work to be lazy.”

Kayden composed himself, squared his shoulders, and nodded. “I promise.”

-.-.-.-.-.-

Kayden made a quick stop at their tiny convenience store, which was literally a 15 by 15 enclosed gazebo with some shelves lined with random things one might have forgotten or missed from the outside world, and headed over to the cabins.

Everyone was gone for the morning, and it was deathly quiet. Kayden was afraid she might be asleep, judged on the lack of noise, but when he rapped the back of his knuckles on the screen door, he heard a faint “what?” and he let himself in.

She was balled up on her bunk, knees to her chest, and a sheet pulled up over her head. There was half a glass of water next to the bed with various medication bottles next to it. She didn’t even peek her head out to see who it was. It was kind of pitiful, and only served to make him feel worse about the whole argument they’d had. 

“Morgan?” he called out apprehensively.

Her body stiffened under the sheet before she shot up into a sitting position, hair a complete mess. “Kayden?!”

He scratched the back of his head sheepishly, and handed the plastic bag over to her. “I, uh, ran into Amy while I was looking for you.”

She glared skeptically as she took the bag and looked into it. Her eyes got big, and for a moment Kayden was terrified she was going to start crying. Instead, she let out a symphony of giggles that turned into hearty belly laughs. “You,” she couldn’t get the words out between laughs. “You brought me,” she struggled to say, still laughing. “You got me  _ period _ chocolate?!”

Kayden rolled his eyes and looked away, suddenly embarrassed. “There is some salty stuff in there, too. I didn’t know what you’d like. You know, I was just trying to be nice. You don’t have to tease me about it. I don’t know what to do for you,” he gestured at her, “for this.”

She managed to stop laughing, and smiled genuinely, which was enough to ease his embarrassment and allow him to relax a bit. “It was very considerate.” She motioned for him to take a seat in Rae’s bunk across from her. “Why were you looking for me? I mean, I covered my shift. So, what up?” She had a bar of chocolate open by then, and placed a square in her mouth, a look of bliss washing over her features.

Kayden let out a breath and looked away, wondering if he’d be able to continue if he kept looking at her. It wasn’t anything she was doing - he could ignore his treacherous thoughts to her reaction to the chocolate - or what she was wearing - was she even wearing a bra? He wouldn’t dare look to check. It was just that they were very close in proximity, he told himself, and the conversation they were about to have was bound to be awkward no matter what she was doing, or wearing. “I wanted to apologize.”

“For what?”

“Friday,” he said matter-of-factly. What else would he be there to apologize for?

It was her turn to roll her eyes. “Don’t worry about it. It’s fine. I’m over it.”

He knew better than to believe her. “No. It’s not. I have been,” he paused, looking for the right word. “ _ Unkind _ , in the past. I don’t think you’re a dumb blonde.” 

“Stop it. That was ages ago.”

He looked at her, she was looking down at her lap, all quiet and meek looking, very un-Morgan like. He had a strong urge to comfort her, physically, but he resisted. “I’m still sorry. I was just being a dumb kid. I didn’t think it’d sting. I don’t think of you like I think of the other girls. You’re always so confident and thick-skinned. You throw insults as well as you take them. You’re like one of the guys. I should have known better, though. I’m sorry.”

She looked up through her lashes at him, a quiet anger on her face. He knew he must have said something stupid, but he kept going.

“And, I didn’t know about the lake. Jayden told me. I’m sorry for that, too. I just… I didn’t know.”

She shrugged indifferently. “It’s okay.”

Morgan’s changing moods, laughter to anger to indifference and back again, had Kayden on edge. He came here to smooth things over, but he didn’t want to leave unless she knew he was sincere, and he most definitely did not want to cause another argument. “No,” he shook his head. “It’s not. In the future, I hope you can tell me these things so we won’t have these misunderstandings.”

“The future?” she sat up, a slight grin gracing her face once more. “While that is a nice sentiment, this is my  _ last _ year. As soon as I graduate in the spring, I’m gone. I’ll be eighteen in the fall, you know. There will be no sending Morgan to camp next year.”

“Oh.” Kayden’s throat suddenly felt tight. Was this really her last year?

“If it’s any consolation, you were right about Aaron.” She smiled, but not so sad this time. “So, congratulations if you were trying to earn some sort of mentoring achievement.” Kayden smirked at this poor attempt at humor. “Ten points to Gryffindor.”

“Did he do something to you?” Kayden asked suddenly. He wasn’t sure why he was compelled to do so, maybe it was the look on her face when Aaron’s name was mentioned, or maybe it was just a feeling he had in his gut, but it felt quite odd that after all her yelling about not wanting his advice, she’d suddenly decide Aaron was no good.

“No.”

He didn’t buy it. She seemed defensive. “What happened?”

Morgan let out a sigh of frustration. “You were just right, that’s all. He’s trouble. And I don’t want to hang out with him anymore.”

Kayden felt relieved to hear her say that, even if he was still curious of what happened. Because  _ something _ happened. Now did not feel like the right time to push for that information, however, so he’d save that for another day. “I promise to resist the urge to remind you of how I was right the next time you try to tell me I’m wrong about something,” he teased. She rolled her eyes at his comment, but that was the desired reaction. Things seemed to be okay, and Kayden felt like it was a good place to leave things at. “Well, I guess I’ll take off. If you need anything, just say the word.”

She grinned mischievously. “I could go for a Coke and some more chocolate.”


	10. Chapter 10

The canoe trip participants returned Saturday afternoon. Feeling better, and still looking to avoid Aaron, Morgan volunteered her afternoon to the process of unloading, cleaning and organizing all the equipment and leftover supplies. It also gave her the opportunity to catch up with Rae, who she’d sorely missed. She was looking forward to catching her up and seeing what she thought about Aaron. She wasn’t sure if she’d bring up Kayden. He’d been acting so damn weird lately. She much better preferred their near mortal enemies status. He was being nice and it kinda weirded her out.

“Welcome back, Pyro! How’d it go?” she greeted.

Rae gave some quick directions to some of her campers and then turned to greet her. “No one cried this year.”

“A success, then,” Morgan congratulated.

“Indeed.”

The two started laying out items that had been piled behind them by some campers, who’d carried it back on the golf cart from the canoes.

“This is a mess,” Rae lamented.

“Eh, it’ll be alright.”

“I know for a fact that you hate this stuff,” Rae accused, eyeing her friend suspiciously. “You always say you have better things to do, or say this is what the guys are for. What’s going on?”

“Alright, you caught me,” Morgan admitted. “Remember that guy from the lake that one day. Super cute?”

“I remember you briefly mentioning him,” Rae teased. Morgan most definitely said something about him a few times.

“Well, we’ve been hanging out a lot, and it was fun and all. I felt like we were getting to know each other pretty well. But he randomly dropped the bomb that he’s the kid that drowned back when we were 12, and that’s weird right? To not say something sooner, I mean.”

“Definitely weird.”

“So, I was like, does he only like me because I saved his life? And what am I supposed to do with that?” Morgan rambled on.

Rae tossed a bag with some tent poles, making a loud banging sound that drew Morgan’s attention. “Are you saying he’s some weird stalker or something?”

Morgan’s face scrunched up confused in thought. “Am I?”

“I don’t know, you spaz. You definitely sound a little creeped out.”

Morgan was working on sorting cooking supplies from the pile. “That’s not even the worst of it.”

“Oh?” Rae sounded like she wasn’t convinced, or didn’t care. One or the other.

Morgan’s eyes shifted to see who was around, then she scrambled over to Rae so she could whisper. “He had booze in this silver flask, and he tried to get me to drink some.”

“Tell me you’re not hanging out with him anymore,” Rae demanded.

“That’s why I’m here. I’m trying to avoid him.”

“Screw avoidance. Tell him off. Turn his ass in.”

“I don’t want to get him in trouble.” Why she didn’t, Morgan wasn’t sure. Aaron had been kind to her, and throwing him under the bus over one thing felt wrong, even if he deserved her narking on him.

“Screw that. He could have gotten you in serious trouble. He does not deserve your grace.”

“I don’t want to make another scene,” Morgan nearly whined.

“Another?” 

Apparently, Rae had not been around last week for the big fight, Morgan thought. She took a few minutes to fill Rae in with the details.

-.-.-.-.-.-

Morgan managed to avoid Aaron on Sunday. Monday was another story. He’d shown up for breakfast, which he never did, but she managed to slip out before he could try to talk to her. When she showed up for her shift at the pool, he was already there hanging out near the vending area, like always, talking to some other people. ‘ _ Stalker much? _ ’ she heard Rae’s voice in her head. She did her best to ignore him. After signing in, she put on her shades and Red Cross visor and took over on the lifeguard stand. The first few times he walked over to say hi, she pretended not to hear him, and blew the whistle as if someone had done something to drown his voice out.

When she got down to switch over, he pounced. “Morgan! Hey.”

“Uh, hi. I’m working,” she said, brushing past him.

“Actually, you’re on break, and I know it. I’ll get you something to eat. My treat. What’ll it be today?”

“I’m not hungry,” Morgan lied. He was walking right next to her then, and she resisted the urge to push him into the water. It was so tempting.

“You have to be after running out of breakfast before you were finished this morning.”

She didn’t reply.

“What’s wrong with you?”

Fed up, Morgan grabbed him by the collar of his stupid white linen shirt, and dragged him away from prying eyes.

“Slow down, tiger,” Aaron teased.

“Look. Hanging out was cool and all, but I don’t want to anymore. You crossed a line. You could have gotten me sent home. _ Home _ . To my mother.” She let him go, pushing him away as she did. “We can’t hang out anymore.”

“What?” his face looked more angry than hurt. 

“I don’t want to get you in trouble, but if you don’t leave me alone, I’ll tell them about the booze in the flask.”

He scoffed at her threat. “You didn’t even drink any. You have no proof. It’s your word against mine.”   


Morgan glared, trying to think of a comeback. Something to say that’d wipe the smug look off his face. He was right that it was her word over his. She had nothing, leaving her threat pretty empty.

“Is there a problem over here?”

Both teens’ eyes turned to find Kayden looming nearby, arms crossed, brows furrowed.

“Oooh, Mr. Clipboard. So  _ scary _ .”

Morgan shoved Aaron again and took a step backward closer to Kayden. “Only  _ I _ get to say that.”

Aaron looked back and forth at the two of them and frowned. “You know what? Whatever, man. I don’t have to put up with this. Especially from some poor, middle class airhead. Good luck making it big in Hollywood with no connections. You’ll be back in this shithole in no time.”

It shouldn't have, coming from him, but the words stung. Morgan stared at the ground while Kayden’s eyes shot daggers at Aaron’s retreating form. Her face lifted when she felt a warm hand on her shoulder.

“Do you need to take off early? I can stick around and cover for you.”

Kayden being nice was so unsettling. But this - this was plain freaky. Had he ever offered to cover a shift for anyone? Didn’t he have better things to do? Things to check off his list for the day? “No. I’m fine. Thank you.”

“You sure?”

Morgan nodded and she watched Kayden leave the same way Aaron had taken off, probably to make sure he’d actually left and not circled back around, she thought.

She didn’t see much of Aaron after that. Anytime she saw him across the common areas he’d just sneer and turn away. What had she ever seen in him? He had such an ugly personality when things weren’t going his way. It was like a switch had been flipped.

On Wednesday, Serena had convinced her to go on a picnic, with Darien, of course. At least once a week, the three of them would go have lunch or take dinner to go. About twenty minutes in, Morgan would excuse herself to go to the restroom, leaving the two alone. The first time she did it, Serena was concerned she’d been gone so long, citing concerns she’d gotten hurt, or wasn’t feeling well. Darien blushed when he figured it out and had to explain to Serena the following time why Morgan was leaving them alone for so long. They always choose a secluded spot. Morgan and Serena knew this place like the backs of their hands, and knew all its hidden places. They’d also make a big deal of making sure someone saw the three leave together, to ease suspicion. It may not have been the best of plans, but it had been working so far, and Morgan was satisfied with her handiwork. 

Like clockwork, twenty minutes had passed since they’d sat down to eat, and Morgan excused herself with a wink. She pushed away the branches leading to their secret spot and climbed back out onto the trodden path.

“Morgan?”

Morgan felt like her jaw hit the ground. She was completely caught off guard. Who was all the way out here? How was she going to get rid of them? Then, she looked up, shocked further when she saw who it was. “Kayden?”

“What are you doing?”

She dusted off some leaves from her shirt. “Uh…” He just stared at her, waiting for an answer. Morgan started to panic. And when she panicked, sometimes words just fell out of her mouth without any thought behind them. “Uh, hey, while I’m thinking about it, there was this thing I needed your help with.” She grabbed his elbow and tried to direct him back up the path and away from her hidden friends.

But, he didn’t budge.

“I saw you come out here with your cousin and Darien.”

Shit. “Y-yeah. We like to come have picnics out here.”

“So far out?”

She nodded resolutely. “It’s pretty out here.”

“Also pretty hidden.”

She eyed him with suspicion.

“I know you’re covering for them. You can drop the act,” he said smugly.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. I was on my way to the bathroom.”

“I thought you needed help with something? Which is it?” he challenged. “Also, you’re going to walk ten minutes to go use a toilet instead of peeing in the woods?”

“Ew!”

Kayden shrugged. “I’m just saying. It’s a long walk. A lot can happen in twenty minutes.”

She stared at his face, trying to detect any sort of clue to whether or not he’d actually figured it out. A moment later, the corners of his mouth turned, and shock consumed her. “You  _ know _ ?!”

Kayden shrugged. “You guys weren’t being obvious or anything,” was the sarcastic reply.

“My plan was flawless, I’ll have you know.”

“Okay.”

“How long have you known?” she nearly whined in defeat.

“Long enough.”

Morgan grabbed his forearm. “Listen. Give them this. They are so cute together. And they’re really good together. Sere doesn’t deserve to get in trouble for this.”

He rolled his eyes playfully. “Don’t you think I would have intervened earlier if I was going to turn them in?”

She felt sheepish. Of course. If he knew this long, he would have said something. But why didn’t he? “I’m shocked. You are, like, the most by the book, tattletale of a person I’ve ever met. What are you even doing out here, then, if you knew all along, Mr. Smarty Pants?”

“To confirm my suspicions. And, uh, I thought you could use some company.” He cleared his throat and continued, “Want to go for a stroll? Give them a little more time?” She nodded slowly, still shocked at how calm and reasonable Kayden was being, and they started down the path. “It must be lonely wandering out here covering for them all the time.”

Morgan shrugged. “It’s not so bad.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah, plenty of time to think.”

“And what do you think about?”

“Oh, I dunno. Mostly how I’ll be 18 soon, and next spring I’ll be free.”

Kayden chuckled. She wondered if she sounded childish. “Free from what?”

“My mom?” she offered.

“You shouldn’t take that relationship for granted.”

“Well, she’s the daughter of Satan, so.”

He laughed. “She can’t be that bad.”

“Wanna make a bet?” Morgan asked with a laugh.

He rolled his eyes. “So, what are these grand plans of yours?”

“I’m going to L.A. to get famous, duh.”

He sighed, and it reminded her of Jayden and all his disapproval. “Morgan…”

“Don’t you start, too! Look. We don’t all have a family business to inherit. And we aren’t all great with school. I want to act. I want to be in stupid toothpaste commercials and gather all my friends to come sit and watch as it airs for the first time. I want to be the person in the background who watches the hero save the day. I want to climb the ranks, and eventually star and produce.” She realized she was rambling. “I can’t do any of that here.”

“Maybe not.”

“No, definitely not.”

“What about online content? What’s that website…” Kayden trailed off for a moment. “YouTube!”

Morgan scoffed. “No one is ever getting famous on YouTube.”

He shrugged.

“What about you? What are your plans?” She was sure they were in a color-coded binder, organized to perfection, a vast contrast to her own.

“I’ll be finishing my bachelor’s in business and marketing in the spring,” said Kayden.

“Fancy,” Morgan half teased. Of course Kayden had real adult plans and was following through.

He chuckled. “I guess. I got it so I could better run this place some day.”

“But?”

“But what?” Kayden asked.

“That sounded like a but.”

“But,” he began, “I keep thinking I should do something else with it. Or at least something more.”

“You’re smart. You’ll figure it out.”

“How’s your family feeling about you not going to college?” he asked.

Not great, she thought. “My mom’s sent me weekly copies of admittance forms with angry notes so you tell me.”

“She sounds fun.”

Morgan chuckled. “You have no idea.”


	11. Chapter 11

Camp was winding down, with only two weeks left on the calendar. After the previous Wednesday, Kayden had offered to help Morgan with her plan to cover for Darien and Serena. She had been excited at the offer and formally welcomed him to what she called “Operation White Hare.” Amused, he had asked if she’d meant “White Rabbit” or had she gotten it confused with the March Hare, but he was quickly met with a scowl and she went off on a rant about how she’d read both “Alice in Wonderland” and “In the Mirror,” _thank you very much,_ and how she wasn’t as dumb as she apparently looked.

That still meant she’d mixed them together, but he had decided to keep the peace and not bring it up.

During one of their missions playing lookout, they had sat down to discuss future missions. Morgan had suggested going to a Friday campfire as cover again, since blending into a big group was easier, and Kayden offered to host a co-ed game night the following day. They had found that if they packed the weekends with things for the couple to do, they were easier to manage during the week.

It was Saturday now, and Kayden returned from breakfast and the showers to find that the rest of his cabin was still asleep, which to their credit, was common on Saturdays, but it was 9:45 and judging by the state of the cabin, it would take them most of the day to clean.

Because it was dirty.

Not because he wanted to impress anyone.

Kayden could hear Zack’s taunts already.

Prepared to face the whining and accusations, Kayden banged on bedroom doors and pulled back curtains, effectively waking the cabin from their precious slumber.

“What’s your _deal_?” Jayden mumbled, brushing past Kayden several minutes later, on a mission to make himself a bowl of cereal.

“It’s not appropriate to sleep the day away. Especially when there are things that need to be done.”

Jayden stared blankly at Kayden. “Such as…?”

Kayden gestured around him as if what he had implied had been obvious. Did Jayden not see the mess? Was he the only one with _eyes_?

“Still not following,” Jayden replied, grabbing a spoon and closing the drawer.

Zack appeared from the hallway, blanket draped over his head and body, only his face and fingers, that were clutching the edges of the blanket together, visible. “He wants us to clean,” he muttered as he walked to the couch, and rolled over the side, sinking down into the cushions. “ _Girls_ are coming over.”

Kayden glared at the talking mound of blankets. “ _People_ are coming over,” he corrected. “And I won’t have them arrive with the cabin in this state. So, after you _rejoin the living_ , I expect you to get to work.”

Jayden pouted and shoved another spoonful of sugary cereal in his face.

“And,” Kayden continued, “I need both of you to chip in to help pay for the supplies for tonight.”

“What?” Zack yelped, emerging from his blanket fortress to glare. “I didn’t even invite these people _over._ The injustice!”

-.-.-.-.-.-

In the girls’ cabin, the day’s focus was elsewhere.

“So,” Morgan began, as the others all sat down and turned their attention to her. “Party up at Jayden’s later for anyone that wants to come, but more importantly, I need volunteers to help put together the camp dance. Sere’s already agreed to help, but who else can I count on?”

Serena squealed and clapped excitedly in her seat, bouncing up and down. “It’s going to be so fun!”

Amy looked to Maddie apprehensively. Morgan thought she was trying to gauge what the taller girl was thinking. Maddie appeared pensive.

“Do I _have_ to,” Rae asked scathingly a moment later. Rae was not really into the camp dances. She had once told Morgan she thought they were a dumb waste of time. 

Morgan turned her full attention to Rae and shrugged. “You don’t _have_ to help, but you do _have_ to come, and there will be no complaining about the theme or decor if you don’t help out, Pyro.”

Rae tilted her head, weighing her options for a moment before answering. “I guess someone has to stop you from throwing a pink glitter-themed atrocity.”

“You’re not using glitter, are you?” Maddie quickly questioned. “I don’t want to spend three days cleaning up!”

“May-be,” Morgan teased.

Maddie gave Amy a comically serious look. “We have to stop her.”

Amy chuckled. “I suppose I have some time I could spare to assist.”

“Oh, shucks,” Molly added. “I can’t be the only one not in! I’ll help, too!”

Morgan pumped her fist into the air in victory. “Yes!”

“So, what’s the actual theme?” Rae questioned after a moment. “And don’t say glitter.”

Morgan smiled smugly. “Red.”

-.-.-.-.-.-

Later that evening, the six giggling girls trekked up the path and piled into the air-conditioned cabin belonging to their senior counselor counterparts. They were greeted with the delightful smell of pizza, an array of colorful crunchy snacks, soda cans galore, and upbeat music blaring from one of the bedrooms. All of which Jayden proudly pointed out to them as they entered. After hellos, both awkward and familiar were exchanged, everyone settled in. Jayden, Darien, Serena and Maddie each grabbed a controller to game with. Nate, Zack, Amy, Molly and Rae sat down at the old round wood table to choose which card game to play: UNO, Phase 10 or something with a traditional deck of cards, leaving Morgan and Kayden hanging out by the snacks.

“Not going to join in on the fun, Kay?” Morgan teased, already knowing the answer. Kayden wasn’t really known for playing games, and she didn’t suspect that had changed just because he wasn’t being an insufferable jerk recently.

“Maybe later. I want to see what they choose, first. I don’t want to get stuck playing poker with Nate and Zack. And you shouldn’t either, now that I think about it.”

Morgan grinned and looked over to the dimly lit table where they were still fussing over what game to play. “I’d be more worried about Rae, to be honest.”

Kayden quirked a brow.

“Amy is pretty sharp, too. I bet she could count cards if she tried.” 

“Interesting. I kind of want to see them mop the floor with those two, now. They would not suspect it at all.”

Morgan smirked. “Maybe we can set that up later. While I have you here, though, I need something.” Kayden shot her a quizzical look. “Don’t get too excited,” she teased. “I just want to know if you can spare some help setting up for the dance next week. Maddie is the only one of us that isn’t too short to hang things. I need your tallness.”

“Your Tallness?”

Did - did Kayden just make a joke? “No! I meant like, your height. You know what I meant!” she exclaimed while playfully slapping his arm.

Kayden grinned. “Whatever you need.”

Morgan was impressed. Joking around, being amicable, wanting to see his competitive friends get ambushed by some girls at cards. Was Kayden being fun? Having fun? Someone ought to record this day, she thought.

“One of us should probably get into the living room to run interference between the love birds,” he added.

Ah, there it was. Business as usual. Kayden had been more casual lately, but that layer of seriousness remained. “I did most of the work last night, if you remember correctly. So, you get them tonight.”

Kayden smirked.

“I will sit with you guys, though,” she offered. “Just no supervising.”

He nodded. “Fair.”

The two grabbed some items from the counter and joined the group in the living room area. When Morgan sat her soda can down on the coffee table, she heard Zack’s voice yell out “It’s called a COASTER, you heathen!” from the card table. She looked to Kayden for an answer at the strange outburst, but he shrugged and handed her a coaster in lieu of a verbal response.

-.-.-.-.-.-

Summer always seemed to go by so fast, and as much as Morgan tried to slow it down, the last few weeks of camp just slipped through her fingers. There was a certain excited buzz that always enveloped the camp this last quarter. The younger kids were eager to go home to their parents, the older ones ready to see friends they had missed over the summer, and the teens were all in a fuss about the end-of-camp dance.

Preparing and planning for the dance served as a great distraction for Morgan. She was not ready to return home. Her mother had given up sending college applications and literature recently, but Morgan knew the scolding she was heading home to would be one for the books.

And things here?

Things were complicated. Not necessarily in a bad way, but just strange, really. Morgan was ready to stop playing babysitter for Serena and Darien. She’d done a great job helping keep their secret - well, mostly, Kayden _had_ found out. Recently, Aaron had tried to start some rumor about her, and Morgan was so over his sneers and bad attitude. If she never saw him again, she could die happy. The creep.

But then there was Kayden.

The stupid lug-head was being nice. He couldn’t have decided to be nice sooner? And it being her _last_ summer here? The timing just felt - unfortunate? He wasn’t as bad as she’d made him out to be, and there were so many wasted summers being enemies. They’d been friends once - before she’d ruined it.

“Mo-mo!”

Serena’s voice broke Morgan away from her annoying thoughts. “Yes?”

Serena bounded over to the table where Morgan was sorting all the decorations. “Question. What if we don’t have enough of the right color balloons?”

“Balloons?” Morgan questioned. What had she approved that involved balloons?

“For the arch,” Serena offered.

Morgan exhaled, but thanked Serena in her mind for this much needed distraction. “Let’s go sort this out.”

-.-.-.-.-.-

The days and evenings passed in a blur, and before she realized it, the big day had arrived. Tomorrow, the campers would pack up and leave by the end of the day. Summer was over, basically. Tonight, though, she’d throw them a spectacular end-of-summer bash to celebrate all they’d accomplished and learned this season.

While the campers enjoyed their final dinner, Morgan did a quick once-over of the converted hall, making sure that the DJ, Zack, had everything he needed, before rushing off to get herself ready. It may not have turned out exactly as she’d planned - it was admittedly a little less red than she’d wanted - but she and the girls did a pretty good job on a shoe-string budget, and she was proud of their effort.

Morgan arrived back at the dance in a modest blue cocktail dress, just in time for the campers to start showing up. The lights were off when she returned. Zack had the music playing and a multi-colored party light going. The white Christmas lights they’d strung up criss-crossed the room and lit up the red streamers they’d managed to hang. Maddie’s multi-colored balloon archway even seemed to fit in just fine with the right lighting.

Kayden had forced most of the counselors into being chaperones for the evening, so there was no lack of familiar faces in the growing crowd. Morgan walked past some awkwardly dressed pre-teens and found Amy and Maddie standing behind a row of round tables.

“It looks so good all together, Morgan,” Amy complimented.

“The arch ties it together,” Maddie joked sourly, arms crossed. She had been so mad about the way it turned out, but the girls insisted it was fine, and really it was.

“I love your Frankenstein arch! Who cares if we had to use seven different colored balloons?” Morgan said jokingly.

Maddie laughed. “It is something special, that’s for sure.”

“It’s perfect. Thank you for making it.”

After some quick hugs, Morgan departed to survey the room. It was a very typical dance, she had thought to herself. The boys were on one side, and the girls on the other. Morgan knew if she could get a few of them dancing, everyone would relax and join in. So, she began working on getting some girls to get out and dance first. They were pretty easy to lure onto their makeshift dance floor. Once the girls were dancing without her lead, she picked off the shy boys one by one, pairing them off with some girls before grabbing another victim. Before too long, she had most of the kids and teens up on their feet enjoying Zack’s playlist.

Morgan was enjoying herself, too. She’d danced with Serena and Molly, gotten Maddie and Amy to do the Cha-Cha Slide with her, and had even gotten into a quick dance off with Jayden. She was taking a break to get a drink when a head of silver caught her eye, leaning up against the wall near the entrance.

Kayden had showed up.

_With_ his clipboard.

_Seriously_? Morgan gulped down the rest of her punch and crept over to him. He hadn’t noticed her, and she snatched the clipboard from his hands in one swift motion.

Shocked, rage-filled eyes immediately softened when they recognized the perpetrator was. “Morgan.”

Morgan winked. Kayden tried to grab his papers back, but Morgan hid them behind her back, knowing he wouldn’t want to look inappropriate reaching for her rear end. “I know it’s mandatory attendance, but you could at least pretend to have fun tonight,” she chided.

“Who said I wasn’t?”

Morgan stared at his inscrutable face for a moment before setting his clipboard down on a nearby folding chair and grabbed his hand. “Come on,” she ordered. Unsurprisingly, Kayden resisted more than the twelve-year old boys she’d bamboozled earlier.

“Morgan,” he pleaded, pulling back against her grip. “I don’t dance.”

She countered by placing both hands around his wrist and tugging. “Sure you do. You just don’t _want_ to. Come dance with me. One dance. If it isn’t fun, you can come back and hang out in the shadows like the gargoyle you are.”

Kayden signed in defeat, giving in and allowing her to pull him forward. “One dance,” he stated firmly.

As they made it to an empty spot, “My Humps” by the Black Eyed Peas came on, and Morgan caught Kayden shoot a death glare across the room at Zack, before turning back to her, stiff as a board. 

_Whatcha gonna do with all that junk_

_All that junk inside your trunk_

Morgan almost died at the uncomfortable look that flashed across Kayden’s face, but she resisted laughing, and instead tried to get him to move his body in some sort of rhythm, which proved to be quite the task. He stood there, feet firmly planted on the floor, barely moving his hips at all.

_‘Cause of my humps my hump my hump my hump_

_My hump my hump my hump my lovely lady hump_

Kayden’s face twisted, and he looked anywhere but Morgan’s direction, his discomfort building. She tried to get him to move his arms, but he flinched at her touch and she gave up. Really, him being out here was victory enough for her.

_So don’t pull on my hand boy_

_You ain’t my man boy_

_I’m just tryna dance boy_

Morgan wasn’t sure how much more Kayden would take, but she was thoroughly enjoying the amount of embarrassment he was suffering right now. Serena and Darien were dancing nearby, and she watched Kayden’s eyes nearly roll out of his head when he saw how closely they were dancing. “So inappropriate,” he’d mumbled.

_Whatcha gonna do with all that breast_

_All that breast inside that shirt_

_I’m a make make make make you work_

_Make you work work make you work_

“That’s enough!” Kayden announced, and stalked over to the DJ booth to scold Zack. Morgan giggled and jumped in with Serena to finish out the song.

Morgan wasn’t sure what Kayden had said to Zack, but the next song was some Fall Out Boy song, far more appropriate for a youth dance. Kayden had returned to escort her off the floor, but she stood still, hoping to get him to stay. “One more?”

“The deal was one dance.”

“I wouldn’t call what you did dancing,” she said with a smirk. Kayden sighed, rolling his eyes, but she could see his stiff shoulders relax just a smidge. Knowing she’d won, she pulled him back toward her, and started bouncing along to the song. “Isn’t this fun?” she called out over the music a minute later.

Kayden didn’t answer, but he did seem amused by her enthusiasm, and stayed on the floor for another song or two.

It was about the midpoint of the evening when the songs made a sudden shift to slower tempos. Too shy, most of the kids exited the dance floor at the first sign of a slow dance. Morgan deflated when she noticed. “All that work,” she muttered, looking around.

“What’s wrong?” Kayden asked, returning to the table Morgan was at with a drink.

“They’re all sitting down again,” she lamented.

Kayden seemed to survey the room for a moment while Morgan pouted, sipping at her drink. After a few moments, he took the plastic red cup from her, and offered an upturned palm, inviting her to stand. “Shall we?”

Morgan gave him a skeptical look. He had a sincere look on his face and she suddenly found her pulse quickening. “Are you asking me to dance, Your Tallness?” Morgan deflected with humor, because this was all just fun, right? Her stupid body was betraying her. _Calm down hormones!_

“If you will have me.”

Morgan felt her cheeks redden. They were friends, nothing more. He had made that all too clear all those years ago. She was way too young for him. Just a kid. He didn’t think of her that way. And her stupid brain needed to remember that.

No matter how handsome his face was in this lighting.

Wait. What?

“Besides,” he began as he led her out onto the thinning floor, “It’s best to lead by example. If we dance, others will join.”

“R-right,” Morgan mumbled as she placed bother hands on Kayden’s shoulders. This was exactly what she’d thought. Just a friendly dance to relax the nervous kids and get everyone back to having fun. She’d worked so hard. He didn’t want things ruined. That’s all.

“Not like that,” Kayden muttered, gently removing one of her hands, and outstretching it, interlaced with his own fingers, out to the side. His other palm rested gingerly on her waist, and he pulled her in closer, before leading her around in small steps to the music.

Morgan wasn’t sure this felt like just friends anymore. And a curious look Rae was shooting her made the feeling worse. What was going _on_?

It felt like ages, but a minute or so later, Kayden gently squeezed her waist, and she looked up. “Look. I think it’s working.”

Curious, Morgan looked away from his shirt button she’d been transfixed on. Her friends had been pulling people out to dance, and some kids were even mustering up the courage to invite others out. His plan had worked. “My hero,” she teased. “You saved the dance.”

“You worked too hard to let it fail. It’s the least I could do.”

“Thank you,” Morgan responded after a moment, a bit deflated.

The song ended, and Morgan expected them to part, but Kayden’s warm, gentle hands didn’t leave her body.

It felt nice.

She tried to ignore that.

Morgan scanned the room again. There were more people dancing than sitting, and that made her happy. Even Rae, the dance hater, was dancing - with Jayden. She made a mental note to pester Rae about that later. Serena and Darien had split up and were dancing with younger campers. Everyone seemed to be having a good time. 

Morgan looked back to her dance partner to find, surprisingly, that he was smiling down at her, ignoring their success of getting others dancing.

She smiled politely back up at him, and he just kept staring. Normally, she might call him a weirdo and leave, but there was a tenderness in his eyes, and Morgan felt herself leaning in closer to him, and she swore his face was nearing hers at the same time.

Morgan hadn’t been this close to him since she had got into his face yelling a few weeks back.

He smelled good.

Their faces were impossibly close. Just when Morgan thought he might lean in to kiss her, Kayden suddenly straightened, clearing his throat and looking away.

“I - I should have Zack, um, go back to the upbeat songs. End the night on a good happy note.”

He let go of her, and Morgan nodded at his suggestion, clearing her own throat and smoothing out imaginary wrinkles from her dress. “Yes. I think they, uh, definitely enjoyed the fast songs better.”

He nodded. “I’ll get on that.”

Morgan bit her lip. “I’ll, uh, go check on some stuff. There’s stuff that I should be, uh, yeah. Okay.”

They shared awkward glances before separating. Morgan quickly made her way off the floor, checking on the punch levels before deciding to check dark corners and closets for sneaky teenagers trying to fly under the radar. Anything, really, to keep her busy, and not think about Kayden. And how his lips might have felt against hers.


	12. Chapter 12

Morgan awoke Friday morning tired.

So tired.

Wanting to get out of there as quickly as possible, she’d opted to clean up the hall this morning instead of last night. This would also give her something to do all day. The pool was closed today, so there were no lifeguard shifts to take. Most of the staff and volunteers were busy helping campers pack up and keep them busy until their parents or buses arrived. Staff would all stay through the weekend and leave next week once they’d closed out wherever they worked. It was a lot of cleaning and organizing.

Necessary but evil.

The reward was a big end of summer campfire. And carrying on with tradition, the night prior to the big goodbye, Morgan, Serena, and Jayden would throw a smaller get-together with their friends.

Ever since Jayden made senior counselor, they were able to have them in the nicer, bigger cabin. “Perks of his position” which the two younger cousins were more than happy to take advantage of.

Morgan entered the empty hall and took a good look around. The electronics were put away, and they’d taken care of the punch last night - ants, Maddie had reminded them - but everything else was as it had been.

Morgan’s eyes stopped at the spot on the dance floor where she’d danced with Kayden.

Morgan wasn’t going to see him again the day after tomorrow, and while a part of her felt strangely sad about it, she decided that it was probably for the best if she didn’t think about any of it at all. She’d be home soon, and Camp Elysian would just be something in her past.

She grabbed the trash drum and step ladder from the janitorial closet, and started tearing down decorations from the walls. It was funny the difference in time it took to put up versus tear down. Maddie and Serena would be there shortly to help, but the destruction was cathartic, so Morgan got started without them.

The tearing and crumpling of paper and plastic was not enough to keep her mind quiet.

Thinking about Kayden was irritating. But the whole thing was her fault. Morgan was the idiot who decided to ask him to dance. He was happy standing there with his clipboard. She should have left him alone with his color-coded safety blanket, and she wouldn’t be here wondering if he’d actually thought about kissing her or not.

She gathered up an armful of ripped decorations and stuffed them into the bin before moving the ladder down the wall to get more. The loud bang as the ladder’s legs hit the linoleum punctuated her frustrations.

All of this was just in her head, anyway. Her imagination running wild. She bet Kayden didn’t even think twice about last night.

Because there was nothing to think about, she reminded herself.

_ Nothing _ .

Not his handsome face looking at her. Not how nice his hand felt on her waist. Not how he was actually an okay dancer, even though he said he wasn’t. Not how he suddenly ghosted her.

Morgan snatched a streamer down violently.

Well, she had done the same, to be fair, she thought as she balled it up in her hands. It wasn’t like she was hoping to bump into him. She took off as soon as she could. So, should she be annoyed he didn’t come looking for her?

It was for the best.

Still fuming, and determined to pull everything down on her own, Morgan climbed to the top of the step ladder, going against what she knew was safe, and balanced her top foot on the handle, trying to reach where Maddie had attached the Christmas lights. She stretched her body as far as it would go, her fingers barely brushing past the wires. Maddie had a good 4 inches in height over Morgan, but Morgan was determined. She grunted and reached further, missing again. 

And lost her balance.

It wasn’t a tall step ladder, and it probably wouldn’t hurt too bad, she thought in the seconds she realized she was falling.

But Morgan never hit the floor. Someone caught her. She hadn’t heard any doors open, but then again, she had been pretty focused on the task of ripping things down and her spiraling thoughts to notice much else.

After she was returned to her feet, Morgan turned to thank whoever it was. It wasn’t Maddie - they were man’s hands that had broken her fall. Had Kayden come looking for her? She looked over her shoulder, nervous and hopeful. 

Morgan quickly recoiled from the hand still on her arm, when she was met with Aaron’s grinning face. “What are you doing here?” she spat out. Of all the people Morgan thought she might see when she turned around, that was the face she wanted to see the least.

“Preventing an accident, it seems.”

Morgan wanted to smack the smirk off his face. How dare he sneak in here and try to act like nothing had happened. She scowled, taking another step backward and crossing her arms, not wanting him to think for a second that he was welcome. “No,  _ really _ . Why are you here? What could you possibly have to say to me?” She tilted her head angrily. “I thought I was just some desperate slut who kept throwing herself at you. That was what you were telling people, weren’t you?”

Aaron started to say something but stopped, sighing and running his hand through his hair.  _ His stupid dumb hair. _ “I came because I've had time to think-”

“About how terrible you are?” Morgan suggested quickly.

“-about how I don’t want to leave things on such a bad note,” he finished. “My driver will be here soon, and I didn’t want to leave without telling you. That I like you, Morgan. And I hope we can keep in touch.”

Morgan felt her face squint as she listened to the words leave his mouth.  _ What?  _ He completely ignored her accusation. Didn’t even acknowledge it. Morgan scoffed. What was wrong with this kid? Was she just supposed to forget all the weird and awful things he’d done just because he saved her from falling and flashed a pretty smile? “I’m pretty sure that’s not going to happen.”

Aaron huffed, but the anger she’d seen erupt from him weeks before when he’d not gotten his way didn’t seem to surface. “I didn’t like seeing you dance with him.”

“What?” Morgan asked exasperated. Was he following her around now? What the hell? Serena and Maddie would be here soon. Maybe he’d leave then?

“I was going to ask you to the dance, but I couldn't find you anywhere,” he admitted. “And then I showed up, and you were dancing with him, and I didn’t like it. Morgan,” he paused to reach out for her, which she dodged, “The summer is over. I just thought maybe we could start over.” When she did nothing but stare back at him defiantly, he pulled a folded piece of paper from his back pocket and handed it to her. “I wrote my info here. I hope you call. I’ll be in L.A. in the spring. Hit me up after graduation.”

Where were the girls, she wondered. “Don’t count on it.”

As she took the paper from him, he tried to grab her hand, but she pulled it back and out of reach. He responded with a smile. “Take care, Morgan.”

Morgan watched Aaron stroll out of the room, passing by Maddie and Serena as he left. Morgan angrily crumpled the paper and shoved it down into the trash.

“What was  _ that _ about?” Serena asked with concern.

“Nothing. Nothing at all,” Morgan huffed. She had a brand new reason to angrily rip things off the wall. And a new distraction from her traitorous thoughts about Kayden.

-.-.-.-.-.-

The weekend passed, with all its tedious tasks behind them, and it was finally the day of their end of year get together at Jayden’s. 

After getting ready, the girls excitedly made their way up the pathway to the party, carrying supplies with them. Jayden, Nate, and Zack were playing the Xbox when they arrived, and Darien was helping Kayden in the kitchen. A big round of hellos erupted as the girls made their way into the room. Darien noticed Serena was having trouble carrying something up the steps, so he brushed past the others to help. Morgan caught Serena giving him an extended thank-you hug after he helped her get inside. Morgan smirked, and then looked away past the two, and locked eyes with Kayden. He’d also caught the display of affection, and they exchanged looks of annoyed predictability.

Those two had been harder and harder to rein in after the dance. There probably wasn’t much risk of getting caught at this point, nor risk of reprimand, Morgan knew. No one was going to get sent home the last day they were here, but Morgan didn’t want to see Darien get in trouble, either. She’d grown a soft spot for the tall dork, and if he wanted to come back to work here next summer like he’d been talking about, a strike against him probably wasn’t for the best. They’d have to keep a closer watch on them tonight and tomorrow to be safe.

Morgan joined Rae and Amy, who’d perched themselves on the arms of the ancient couches, and watched in amusement as Serena and Molly tried to set up a karaoke machine Morgan had helped them pull out of long-forgotten storage.

“Now that we are all here,” Morgan began, standing in front of everyone, “Welcome to the End of Summer Bash!”

“Hey!” Jayden interrupted. “You don’t  _ live _ here. Shouldn’t I be announcing things?”

“Hush!” Morgan scolded playfully. “Make yourselves at home. Have a snack. Karaoke will be available shortly.”

The guys on the couch groaned in unison.

“Oh, hush and keep playing your games. Jay, don’t even pretend like you aren’t stoked to belt out your favorite song,” Serena said teasingly.

Darien had come to Serena and Molly’s rescue, and handed them the song book to look through while he finished setting up. They bounced over to the other girls on the couch so they could all take a look at the songs.

“Wanna do a duet, Momo? Molly and I already picked our first song.”

Rae started flipping through the book, and looked up with disgust. “These songs are so  _ old _ . How ancient is this thing?”

Morgan and Serena shared a look and shrugged. 

“Who cares? It works. I think.” Morgan paused to look at Darien, who gave her a thumbs up to confirm. “Yes, it works. And that is the far more important detail, Rae. Amy? Maddie? You guys wanna flip through?” Morgan asked, offering the book to them with excitement.

Amy blushed a fierce red color. Maddie politely declined.

Serena, Molly and Morgan opened with “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun” by Cyndi Lauper, and Morgan announced that the night had finally started. Jayden volunteered a few songs later, and sang “Another One Bites the Dust” by Queen with his sister. Zack did an impressive rendering of “White Wedding” a while later, surprising everyone. Then, the two participating males attempted the Beastie Boy classic “It’s Tricky,” which led the room to erupt in a fit of laughter when they couldn’t keep up with the lyrics.

Everyone relaxed pretty quickly, and took turns singing, playing video games and hanging out. Morgan took a break to get out the Twister box she’d snuck into the room, eliciting a mixed reaction from the others when she dramatically unfolded the mat and placed it on the floor in front of them.

As everyone else was distracted, Amy quickly grabbed the spinner. “I’ll spin.”

Maddie chuckled and took it from the smaller girl. “No, you should play. If you won’t sing, you should at least participate in this.”

“You’re one to talk,” Nate chimed in.

Maddie stuck her tongue out at him while she smugly adjusted the hat on her head, which she’d stolen from him weeks before and refused to return.

“Okay, okay. Me, Amy, and who else?” Morgan asked, eagerly looking at Serena, but Serena declined and took the opportunity to sit a little closer to Darien on the couch.

“I’m in,” Zack chimed in, unexpectedly.

Morgan thought she saw a faint blush on her friend’s face, but she ignored the urge to tease Amy, and instead looked for another victim to join them. “That’s three.”

“I guess,” Rae offered after a moment, pulling her hair back to secure it with an elastic.

Morgan grinned. “You’re going  _ down _ , Pyro.”

“Dream on, Blondie.”

“Room for five?” Jayden asked, as he joined the others on the edges of the fold-out mat.

“Your funeral,” Rae quipped.

“Challenge accepted,” Jayden said with confidence.

Jayden was the first out. He only made it a few spins before losing his balance trying to get his right foot to the correct color. He tried to blame Morgan, but she told him he was imagining things and to get out of the way.

“Left foot, red.”

Amy toppled next. Zack was exceptionally flexible. He hung in there longer than Morgan thought he would.

“Right arm, blue.”

Morgan stretched her arm under Zack, through his crossed appendages to hit her target that time.

“Right leg, blue.”

“No way!” Zack complained, before failing to untangle himself from Morgan and toppled over. The room erupted. It was just Rae and Morgan now. There was a lot more space to move around, so Morgan began to purposefully try to get in Rae’s way and trip her up. Eventually, Maddie stopped spinning, and started calling out any combo she thought would bring them down.

In the end, Morgan and Rae fell at the same time.

“You knocked me over!” Rae admonished. “I win.”

“It was a  _ tie _ , Rae.”

“Lies.”

Morgan’s eyes flashed devious before tickling Rae, causing the other girl to swat her hand away and get up, leaving the mat.

“First to leave loses!” Morgan announced.

Rae stuck her tongue out and walked over to Jayden, who had a drink waiting for her. No one wanted to play again right away, so Morgan ran back over to the karaoke machine, grabbing Molly on her way and went on a singing spree, belting out classics such as Pat Benatar’s “Hit Me With Your Best Shot,” and Madonna’s “Like a Prayer.”

-.-.-.-.-.-

Kayden spent most of the night observing everyone’s antics from the kitchen. He didn’t usually attend the cousins' end-of-summer party, but for some reason, had stayed in the cabin this year despite his lack of interest in years past. There was no way in hell he’d ever participate in the singing, but it was entertaining to watch, and admittedly, Morgan the Mic Hog had a really good singing voice. She was also very animated, and quite the entertainer.

When she’d slipped away to grab Twister, it took everything he had to not tell her to put it away.

Games like that - surely they were too inappropriate for camp. They were very -  _ suggestive _ .

But, he didn’t stop her. 

Instead, he did his absolute best to look away. He did not need to see how flexible she was.

Admittedly, she was already consuming his thoughts. He’d been thinking about her and how she wasn’t coming back next summer, and he didn’t need - images.

So, he busied himself in the kitchen during the game, only looking up when he heard Morgan claim victory. Darien joined him on the barstools after the game, having given up his spot near Serena on the couch when the others returned to reclaim their seats. They got into talking about the upcoming fall semester, a welcomed distraction, before Rae joined them, needing something to drink, her voice dry from trying to keep up with Morgan. Kayden didn’t know her well, but he liked Rae well enough. She was sensible and kept her campers in line and on time.

Morgan had started a new song.

_ Where had all the good men gone _

_ And where are all the Gods? _

_ Where’s the streetwise Hercules to fight the rising odds? _

“Hey,” Darien greeted when Rae took a seat. “I haven’t seen you in a while. You've been pretty busy lately. Welcome back, by the way. I heard you helped out with that big trip a few weeks back. How was it?”

Kayden tried to focus on the conversation, but Morgan was really into this song, and it was  _ loud _ .

_ I need a hero! _

_ I’m holdin’ out for a hero ‘til the end of the night! _

Rae was not fazed by Morgan, and considered the question for a moment. Kayden expected her to snap back something sarcastic, not considering her much a fan of small talk, but she remained polite. “It’s a lot better leading the trip than participating, that’s for sure.”

“Oh?” Darien asked, curious.

_ He’s gotta be sure _

_ And it’s gotta be soon _

_ And he’s gotta be larger than life _

“Yes,” Rae continued, unphased. Kayden assumed Rae was just used to Morgan being - well, Morgan. “As a camper, it’s awful. It’s trying to make nice with a group of your friends after spending three hours hating their guts and internally screaming at them because they cannot maneuver a canoe. Only to get frustrated again when it’s time to set up camp.”

_ I’m holding out for a hero ‘til the morning light _

_ He’s gotta be sure _

_ And it’s gotta be soon _

_ And he’s gotta be larger than life _

_ I need a hero! _

Darien snorted. Kayden wasn’t sure if it was at Morgan or what Rae said. “That’s horrible.”

“Builds character,” Rae replied, using air quotes.

Kayden frowned, catching her insult, despite Morgan’s voice consuming the room. “But it does.”

Rae put a hand up to silence him. “Nope. Not tonight, Mr. Head Counselor. Go sing or something.”

“I don’t sing.”

Morgan had finally finished, and had roped Jayden into joining her at the mic. They began singing “Under Pressure.”

“Oh, come on. Loosen up. Just for one night. You can’t spend the whole night sitting over here.”

“Rae, I don’t sing,” Kayden repeated.

“Pft. Fine. Darien,” she said with a smirk, switching targets. “You should at least go do a duet with your girlfriend.”

Darien's eyes widened, and Rae laughed as she walked away. 

Kayden looked to Darien smugly. “I guess you two aren’t as discreet as we thought.”

“She won’t say anything,” Darien assured himself.

“So you hope,” Kayden said as he slapped a hand on Darien’s slumped shoulder.

Darien did end up succumbing to the pressure, and joined Serena, Molly, and Jayden in singing “You’re the One That I Want” from Grease. Morgan waltzed into the kitchen while they were up there, and disappeared behind Kayden for a minute. When he turned around to see what she was doing, he caught her testing out the spinning abilities of an empty root beer bottle on the counter.

“Morgan.” Was she really doing what he thought she was doing? This was worse than Twister.

She turned around, grinning innocently. “What?”

“What do you think you’re doing?” Kayden asked firmly.

Morgan twisted the empty bottle in her hands, smiling, and not saying a word.

“You are not initiating a game of Spin the Bottle.”

“You’re no fun,” Morgan whined. “It’s a  _ classic _ party game”

“Inappropriate,” he corrected. “Inappropriate is the word you were looking for.”

“No fun,” she repeated, setting the drink container down, and poking him in the chest with her index finger. “Some of our friends over there could use the excuse. You should  _ see _ all the flirting going on. Oh, but wait,” she said, pausing to bring a finger to her chin. “You’re over here, so how could you?” She shook her head in mock disappointment. “No fun.”

“Morgan,” he said flatly.

“Hmm?”

“Rae knows,” he said, trying to change the subject, and inform her of the change in events.

“Know about what?” she asked obliviously.

“Operation  _ White Hare _ .”

Kayden was surprised that Morgan did not appear shocked or worried. “No, she doesn’t.”

“How are you so sure?” Kayden knew what he’d clearly heard Rae suggest.

Morgan chuckled. “She may have noticed some flirting, but I think she’s just trying to distract you so you don’t see  _ that _ ,” Morgan said, tilting her head toward the living room so he’d look.

Kayden followed her lead, and peered into the living room. There, he saw Jayden perched on the side of the couch leaning over, arm resting on the back to hold him up, whispering something in Rae’s ear.

“Oh,” Kayden muttered as he made the realization.

“Yup,” Morgan stated. “So, don’t worry so much, alright? I got this. I told you.”

Morgan was getting ready to return, and Kayden felt the sudden urge to keep her to himself for a minute. “Hey.”

Morgan looked at him like he’d grown two heads.

“I didn’t get a chance to tell you how well the dance turned out. You have a knack for it.”

Morgan grabbed a soda and pulled the tab back, the top popping as the carbonation rushed to the surface. “Thanks?”

“It’s just, I know you’re going to be a star - your words - but, if California or New York aren’t kind to you, I think you could make a good living planning events.”

After a moment of staring back with an unreadable face, Morgan finally spoke. “I think I’m supposed to take that as a compliment?”

“You are,” he assured.

She took a drink, and looked at him with suspicion. “Are you trying to offer me a job throwing events in the off-season, Kayden?”

“I would never.” He smiled and continued, “But, if you ever applied, I wouldn’t overlook the application just because you’ve been a pain in the rear.”

Morgan smirked. “I might actually miss you, you big doof.”

Kayden nudged her back into the party. 

He’d miss her, too.


	13. Chapter 13

Morgan returned home to her fuming mother two days later. Her mother yelled at Morgan for a full hour before informing her there would be no slacking off this school year, and she could kiss her weekends goodbye.

No, “glad you’re back” or “did you have fun?” Just a passive aggressive segue into an hour-long rant. 

Morgan had expected this welcome home, however, and took the housewife’s beratement in near silence, before slinking off to her room to unpack and cuddle her dearly missed cat. Kitty cuddles could cure any bad mood, Morgan had discovered.

Serena texted her later that evening, well after Morgan had unpacked and got caught up on social media and gossip columns. She’d gotten some texts from friends over the summer keeping her in the loop for some stories, but how had she missed Reese Witherspoon and Ryan Phillippe splitting? That required immediate Arty cuddles. And poor Britney. That girl never seemed to catch a break. But Lance Bass? Good for him.

Morgan flipped open her phone to read the message.

> How’d it go? As bad as you thought?

>> About as horrible as expected.

Morgan started typing a longer complaint, but quickly erased the characters without sending. With her mother on the warpath, she didn’t put it past her to check Morgan’s phone. And the last thing Morgan needed was her finding more fuel for her rage. It was Morgan’s experience that things could _always_ get worse.

> Lame. Sry.

>> I guess I’ll see you for the holidays. Weekends are for studying now.

> As if one good year’s going to change anything.

>> Hey!

> Sry.

> That’s lame tho.

> Jay’s promised to take me up to their school when classes start so I can see Darien,

> Guess you can’t come?

>> Dork. Why would I?

>> Also, no. Read much?

> Sry.

> Maybe we could guise it as a campus tour?

>> I’m just going to lay low and make it thru the semester, tbh. Thx tho.

> Hey. Running out of txts. Switch to Yahoo messenger.

Morgan rolled her eyes, and reached over to wake her desktop up. Serena must have been texting Darien all afternoon. They had only been home half a day, and it was early in the month. How’d they texted that much already? It was common for Serena and Morgan to blow through their allowed texting limit and have to log into an online chat service until they rolled back over. Morgan and Serena had both ran up quite the bill once talking to each other, and they had been careful since not to let it happen again. They’d never quite accomplished what Serena had with Darien today, though. This was a new record.

 _Love struck fools_.

The weeks rolled on, and soon Morgan started her senior year of high school, summer memories and her friends there a distant thought in her mind. Camp Elysian was officially somewhere she used to go.

Morgan was sad about it for a while, but she had collected all the numbers and screen names for the girls in her cabin, so they kept in touch. In school, Morgan dove head first into her theater class, landing a part in the first production of the year, and her mother still allowed her to play volleyball and run track. “Extracurriculars will look great on your application. And you need all the help you can.”

She had come to terms with the fact that all the confusing thoughts she had been having all came to the same conclusion: she liked Kayden. _Still_. Her crush never really went away, as much as she had tried. But, none if mattered, because she’d never set foot in camp again. So, it was best if she didn’t think about it anymore. Kayden was just someone she used to know. Used to like. She’d be heading out to the west coast in the spring, and he’d be back at camp, so what was the point in pretending anyway?

Morgan took her school work seriously for once, which was boring, but when her first grading period scores came back up from last year, her mom let up a bit on her restrictions.

A little.

She finally let Morgan catch a movie in the theater one weekend with her dad when he was home. And Serena was allowed to spend the night another weekend. It wasn’t perfect, and Morgan felt a bit like a caged bird, but she could survive until the spring.

She had Arty to keep her company in the meantime.

Her birthday rolled around the second half of October, and fell on a Wednesday. Her parents promised Serena could come over that weekend to celebrate - as long as she stayed caught up with school work - and they took her out to the local T.G.I.Fridays for dinner. The way her mother had been acting, it was more than Morgan had expected, and she thanked her parents before heading to her room for the night to do homework.

Morgan was about halfway through her algebra assignment when her phone chimed.

It had been going off all day, random teammates and friends wishing her well, congratulating her on being an adult now. _Happy 18th_! Truthfully, Morgan didn’t feel like today was that important. She thought she would, and had spent all year daydreaming about what it’d be like to be eighteen, but now that it was here, it was just another day. She hadn’t changed just because suddenly, she was legally an adult. Nothing had changed. And while going out for dinner was nice, she still felt down. 

Morgan finished the problem before reaching over to check the message.

Maybe she really had matured, she thought. Work before checking texts. Since when? Was this what being an adult was like? 

The text was from an unknown number.

<unknown. 10:31 pm. 10/22>

She opened it, curious.

> Come outside.

Morgan looked at the phone, and then to the cat curled up in her lap. “What say you, old friend?”

The cat opened one eye, and then went back to sleep, purring, hoping to get some affection from his owner after the interruption of his sleep. Morgan scratched the patch of fur between his ears in response.

“Hm. Jury is out, then.”

>> I think you have the wrong number.

Morgan flipped it closed, and picked her pencil back up, determined to get through this so she could turn in for the night. Math always left her tired. 

A minute later, the phone buzzed again.

Morgan sighed in frustration, dropping the pencil, and checked the message.

> Morgan, come outside.

> Please.

>> Who is this?

> Just come outside.

Morgan found herself curious, and strangely excited. Who was this mysterious stranger texting on her birthday? And who had given them her number? She had so many questions. None of which she’d get any answers to sitting here.

Morgan knew she couldn’t risk going out the front door. Too many questions from her parents. And she was still technically grounded. Her parents would not be happy that someone had come over so late. Her eyes landed on the window.

She always studied with music on, and with the light on, she didn’t think her parents would think twice if they walked past her room. They wouldn’t come in. They’d been proud of her new studying habits, and had made it a point not to bother her too much. So, if Morgan could make it out without making too much clamoring, she was pretty confident she wouldn’t get caught.

Morgan picked up the white ball of fluff from her lap and gently placed him on her bed. “Be a good kitty and stay put. I’ll be right back, okay?” The cat responded by closing his eyes again. “Good kitty.”

It had been unseasonably warm for October, which meant Morgan didn’t have to rifle through her closet for a hoodie and chance making any unnecessary commotion. She carefully opened the window, as to not make much noise, and skillfully climbed out, as if she’d done it a hundred times before.

She hadn’t.

Not her window, at least. They’d snuck out of Serena’s a lot, though.

Morgan quickly glanced around and didn’t see anyone in the driveway or parked in front of the house, so she crept across the grass to the street and took a look, ducking behind the garbage bins, in case her parents looked out the front windows. She better not have been getting punked, she thought to herself. No one was to her left. She turned to the right and saw someone step out of their car a few houses down, holding something. _Interesting_.

Morgan was close enough to sprint back to her room if something shady seemed to be afoot, but she waited until the person got in range of the street light before deciding if she was going to bolt or not.

She wasn’t stupid, alright? Morgan had no intention of getting abducted on her birthday. She was just - curious.

The person, a man, she noted, closed their door gently, and took a few steps forward. She couldn’t make out the face at first, but he was wearing a dark vest and jeans, and had a bouquet of flowers in his hand.

When he entered the light, Morgan’s jaw nearly hit the floor.

“ _Kayden!?_ ”

He held a finger to his lips. “Shh. I thought you were grounded.”

“Oh. Shit.” Morgan had absolutely forgotten she was trying to be covert when the shock hit her. She covered her mouth and closed the distance, realizing she was being loud and might alert her parents. She grabbed his arm and pulled him back towards his car and out of the light, so they wouldn’t get caught. “Wha - what are you doing here?” she asked, heart slamming against her chest. And how did he know she was grounded? Weird.

“I came here to give you these,” Kayden smiled and handed her the flowers.

Red roses.

Morgan’s stomach was in her throat. _He’s handing your flowers_ , she screamed internally. _Grab the stupid flowers, Morgan_.

“And to say, happy birthday.”

“All the way - all the way for--”

Kayden dropped to one knee and took her hand in his, cutting her off from finishing her sentence. “And to do this.” He placed a gentle kiss on top of her hand. “Morgan. Would you like to go on a date sometime?”  
  


  
[ ](http://drive.google.com/uc?export=view&id=1VMquWGKeEKWKA_jDF2NDAPDQrAjKeeUK)

For once in her life, Morgan was stunned silent. Was Kayden, no fun, rule-following, pain in her ass Kayden asking her out? Her head was spinning. How long had he been planning this? How’d he even know what day her birthday was? They’d _said_ their goodbyes, why was he here doing this?

Kayden stood back up when she didn’t respond, still holding her free hand in his. “I’ve wanted to ask you for a long time. But, I told myself all those years ago I wouldn’t unless you were 18.”

Because that would be improper, she thought. Morgan felt like she might pass out. She had packed away all those thoughts and feelings, and here Kayden was, letting them all out again. “You idiot,” she muttered, pulling her hand away to wipe a tear that had broken loose.

He reached up and brushed the skin where the tear had fallen with his thumb. “I know.”

His skin was so warm. So comforting. “So dumb,” she half cried half laughed, smiling.

“I know,” he admitted, smiling back.

Morgan stared up at his soft blue eyes. It made more sense to tell him no. To tell him this would never work out. They didn’t have the same plans for their lives, and they’d never see each other. She had her dreams, and he’d never leave his grandfather without help. He’d be on campus or at camp. She’d be halfway across the country. Could they make it until he graduated? It would be a long-distance heartbreak. 

“Morgan?” Kayden asked, his fingers still lingering on her face, patiently waiting for a response.

Morgan bit her lip. She needed to answer him. She still couldn’t believe he’d drove all the way out here, on her birthday. It was like a scene in some movie. He was definitely dedicated. And his Tallness, King Clipboard, was absolutely good enough at organizing to figure something out. Maybe things could work out?

“Kiss me, you idiot,” she said.

Kayden complied.


End file.
